Can a high school kid sit on the rug?

I gave a workshop on differentiated instruction to a group of teachers-- some elementary, some special ed, some middle and high school.  I talked about different structures for differentiation, including the "spiraling-scaffolded tasks" (which I have re-named "stay or go tasks"). 

The question that struck me as most puzzling came from a high school math teacher who told me that the "stay or go" model wouldn't work for him.  Why not?  It wouldn't work for him because he didn't have his students sit on the rug. 

Yikes!  For those who may have had this response, I should say that you don't have to have your students sitting on the rug to use the "stay or go" model.  You simply need to have two distinct areas to work in your classroom-- an area where students can work independently and an area where students can work with teacher support.  Both areas need to be large enough to accommodate all of your students at once, OR you'll need to flip the kind of work done in each area.  So, a high school teacher, for example, might do an introductory lesson with students sitting at desks facing a blackboard-- a very traditional set-up.  Then, students who are ready to go work independently could go sit at a table in the back of the classroom while the others remain in their seats for additional supported practice.  The following day, the teacher could again review with everyone seated at desks and could invite the now smaller group students who need more support to come to the table at the back of the room.  The students who want to work independently could remain in their seats.  The third day, everyone again begins at their seats for review and remains there for independent practice.  The teacher would then invite students looking for an extension lesson to the back table. 

I talk about this model as it works in my first and second grade classroom, and since I have a rug area and tables, this is what I describe.  There are certainly not specific furnishings required!  It occurs to me, though, that having high school kids sit on the floor might actually work out fine too.  Does classroom set-up really determine the kind of teaching that happens?