Grade 12s reflect after engaging in the

“Pro Pro” Integrative Thinking Problem Solving Task with Grade 6 Students

Challenges Surprises What I learned Being thrown into groups to

solve a problem with kids 5 – 7 years younger

Difficulty getting ideas out because of shyness

Directing relevant ideas without using “yes but” comments… I think a full understanding of the topic was not entirely present, which led to some off-topic contributions

I was hard to get them to jump in on a conversation right away

What was hard: occasionally drawing them out of their shell; difference in academic level was sometimes hard, just with explaining ideas

Trying to get everyone in the

After the first day, one quiet group member really took charge and wanted her ideas to be shared.

How fast they were able to create ideas and put them into a solution/plan

I was surprised by the level of comfort and confidence the grade 6 girls showed. They were happy to contribute their ideas, and were very reflective and conversational with each other and with us.

What surprised me the most was how smart the grade 6s were

How well they were able to use the models… they were a lot more advanced than us; how excited they were to

I learned that the grade 6s are open minded, they have no limits on their ideas (like money, how economics work)

I believe I benefitted personally from this experience by exercising my speaking skills and as a role model rather than being one of many voices in my age group.

I was able to expand my knowledge on the pro-pro model since the grade 6s were really great at explaining

This taught me a whole different way of thinking and showed me how effective it could be; it showed that collaboration between such different ages was actually

group to talk: one girl was talking most of the time and she didn’t give the other girls many chances to talk

Making sure everyone had a chance to be heard; not letting the one outgoing boy take over

Getting the kids to talk and input ideas at first; trying to say “yes and” although the children really didn’t know about money and wanted to spend it all… they didn’t really think about how it would affect them or a business

Our group was VERY outgoing and eager to participate while others were a little more introverted, so balancing the group dynamic and giving every student an opportunity to speak was difficult

Adopting the “yes and” thinking… getting everyone involved

explain concepts we didn’t know and how well they were able to do that; their “yes and” thinking (which I was skeptical of because I’m not used to it) was actually how we came to our final idea and really helped building ideas

The grade sixes were more mature and smarter than I thought; I expected to explain a lot of things, but they even taught me stuff

The rate at which ideas were generated; everyone agreed on ideas; no one was put down

How good they were at the integrative thinking; they were very good at teaching how to do it

What surprised me the most was the sheer amount of ideas that we came up with when we worked together… it was amazing to see the

very effect (INSIGHT: “It was awesome and a lot more fun than I originally thought it would be”)

This was a good leadership experience

I liked seeing different learning structures

I feel I better understand how to think integratively; I learned how to reach out to the “silent ones”

I learned the most by having the grade 6s explain the concepts to me; I found that to be very valuable and I definitely broadened my understanding of integrative thinking

Specificity is a key when communicating ideas; grade 12s may have developed oral communication skills that grade 6s do not have yet

I learned that it doesn’t matter how wide the age

Nothing really difficult Rough start… had to get them

out of their comfort zone Getting everyone to

participate and getting certain students to give serious answers

Our kids were distracted easily; some kids were stubborn at times

Getting the whole group involved in the task… even the grade 12s; changing our vocabulary to fit the grade 6s level; explaining concepts that the grade 6s would not know (“what’s a wage”?)

Getting everyone involved Creating a discussion…

sometimes only one grade 6 was involved

extensive knowledge of some of the students

The thinking process of some of the grade 6s… their ability to adapt to a scary/new situation

The level of understanding that the 6s possessed surprised me

How engaged they got when we got going… never a dull moment! The kids were so funny!

The one student who did participate was really outgoing and into the activity… he didn’t seem intimidated at all

They knew how to organize the information effectively; none of our group members were shy

The level of communication that the grade 6s had; very good input (felt like they were grade 12s as well); very good

difference is, everyone has ideas that hold value and can help improve the ideas already put forth and build upon them

How to deal with them and just be yourself and don’t act like a different person

I learned how to look at conflicts in a different way (pro pro); learned “yes and” instead of our usual “yes but”; this was a special leadership opportunity for the grade 12s

It was good for us to interact with younger kids… makes us remember how we’ve grown

I took away new concepts on communication

Knowledge and comfort with other students

I feel like I’m much better at integrative learning; they were fun to work with!

positive thinking; taught us new concepts

How intelligent the grade 6 students were; how quickly they got comfortable talking with the grade 12s

They had great ideas that I may have never thought of… they were at times very creative!