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Across the UK, school pupils have been calling out the phrase “sixseven” during classes in the most recent internet-inspired phenomenon to take over schools.

While some instructors have chosen to calmly disregard the craze, some have accepted it. A group of instructors explain how they’re managing.

‘My initial assumption was that I’d uttered something offensive’

During September, I had been talking to my secondary school students about studying for their secondary school examinations in June. I don’t recall specifically what it was in relation to, but I said a phrase resembling “ … if you’re targeting grades six, seven …” and the complete classroom erupted in laughter. It took me totally off guard.

My immediate assumption was that I might have delivered an allusion to an offensive subject, or that they’d heard something in my accent that sounded funny. Slightly frustrated – but truly interested and mindful that they weren’t mean – I asked them to clarify. Honestly, the explanation they offered failed to create significant clarification – I continued to have no idea.

What possibly made it extra funny was the evaluating motion I had executed while speaking. I later discovered that this often accompanies “six-seven”: I meant it to aid in demonstrating the process of me verbalizing thoughts.

In order to end the trend I try to mention it as much as I can. No strategy deflates a trend like this more emphatically than an grown-up trying to get involved.

‘Providing attention fuels the fire’

Understanding it aids so that you can steer clear of just accidentally making comments like “indeed, there were 6, 7 hundred people without work in Germany in 1933”. When the numerical sequence is unpreventable, having a strong classroom conduct rules and standards on learner demeanor really helps, as you can deal with it as you would any different disruption, but I rarely had to do that. Policies are necessary, but if learners embrace what the educational institution is implementing, they’ll be less distracted by the internet crazes (at least in lesson time).

Regarding six-seven, I haven’t wasted any lesson time, aside from an infrequent quizzical look and saying ““indeed, those are numerals, excellent”. When you provide focus on it, it evolves into a wildfire. I treat it in the equivalent fashion I would treat any other interruption.

There was the mathematical meme phenomenon a while back, and undoubtedly there will emerge a new phenomenon subsequently. It’s what kids do. When I was growing up, it was imitating Kevin and Perry impressions (honestly outside the classroom).

Students are unforeseeable, and I think it’s the educator’s responsibility to respond in a way that guides them toward the course that will help them to their educational goals, which, fingers crossed, is coming out with academic achievements rather than a disciplinary record a mile long for the employment of random numbers.

‘They want to feel a part of a group’

The children utilize it like a unifying phrase in the recreation area: one says it and the remaining students reply to demonstrate they belong to the identical community. It’s like a call-and-response or a football chant – an common expression they possess. I believe it has any specific importance to them; they just know it’s a phenomenon to say. No matter what the current trend is, they want to feel part of it.

It’s prohibited in my teaching space, nevertheless – it triggers a reminder if they shout it out – identical to any other shouting out is. It’s particularly tricky in maths lessons. But my pupils at year 5 are nine to 10-year-olds, so they’re relatively accepting of the guidelines, while I recognize that at high school it might be a different matter.

I have served as a educator for a decade and a half, and such trends continue for a month or so. This trend will die out in the near future – this consistently happens, particularly once their junior family members start saying it and it ceases to be fashionable. Subsequently they will be focused on the following phenomenon.

‘Occasionally sharing the humor is essential’

I started noticing it in August, while teaching English at a international school. It was mainly boys uttering it. I instructed ages 12 to 18 and it was common within the junior students. I didn’t understand its significance at the time, but being twenty-four and I realised it was just a meme similar to when I was a student.

These trends are always shifting. ““Skibidi” was a well-known trend back when I was at my training school, but it didn’t really occur as often in the classroom. Differing from “six-seven”, ““the skibidi trend” was not inscribed on the whiteboard in class, so learners were less able to adopt it.

I just ignore it, or occasionally I will smile with the students if I inadvertently mention it, striving to understand them and understand that it is just youth culture. I believe they merely seek to feel that sense of belonging and camaraderie.

‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’

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