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Across the UK, school pupils have been exclaiming the phrase ““six-seven” during lessons in the most recent internet-inspired phenomenon to spread through classrooms.

Although some instructors have decided to stoically ignore the phenomenon, some have incorporated it. A group of teachers describe how they’re coping.

‘I believed I’d made an inappropriate comment’

Back in September, I had been speaking with my eleventh grade students about getting ready for their secondary school examinations in June. I don’t recall exactly what it was in relation to, but I said a phrase resembling “ … if you’re targeting marks six, seven …” and the entire group erupted in laughter. It caught me totally off guard.

My first thought was that I might have delivered an hint at an inappropriate topic, or that they detected an element of my speech pattern that sounded funny. Somewhat exasperated – but truly interested and mindful that they weren’t malicious – I got them to explain. Frankly speaking, the clarification they then gave didn’t provide greater understanding – I remained with no idea.

What could have rendered it especially amusing was the evaluating motion I had made while speaking. I have since learned that this often accompanies “six-seven”: My purpose was it to assist in expressing the process of me verbalizing thoughts.

To kill it off I try to bring it up as frequently as I can. Nothing deflates a craze like this more effectively than an grown-up attempting to get involved.

‘Feeding the trend creates a blaze’

Being aware of it aids so that you can prevent just blundering into statements like “well, there were 6, 7 million unemployed people in Germany in 1933”. When the digit pairing is inevitable, having a firm school behaviour policy and standards on pupil behavior is advantageous, as you can deal with it as you would any other interruption, but I haven’t actually had to do that. Guidelines are important, but if learners buy into what the educational institution is implementing, they will become more focused by the online trends (at least in lesson time).

Concerning sixseven, I haven’t sacrificed any instructional minutes, aside from an occasional quizzical look and stating ““indeed, those are numerals, excellent”. If you give attention to it, it evolves into a wildfire. I treat it in the same way I would treat any additional disruption.

Previously existed the mathematical meme trend a previous period, and undoubtedly there will emerge a new phenomenon subsequently. It’s what kids do. Back when I was childhood, it was doing Kevin and Perry impersonations (admittedly away from the school environment).

Young people are unforeseeable, and I believe it’s an adult’s job to behave in a way that guides them in the direction of the course that will get them toward their academic objectives, which, fingers crossed, is graduating with academic achievements instead of a conduct report extensive for the employment of arbitrary digits.

‘They want to feel a part of a group’

Young learners employ it like a connecting expression in the recreation area: a pupil shouts it and the others respond to indicate they’re part of the equivalent circle. It’s like a call-and-response or a sports cheer – an shared vocabulary they possess. In my view it has any specific meaning to them; they merely recognize it’s a thing to say. Whatever the current trend is, they desire to feel part of it.

It’s prohibited in my classroom, though – it triggers a reminder if they call it out – similar to any other calling out is. It’s notably challenging in maths lessons. But my students at year 5 are pre-teens, so they’re quite accepting of the guidelines, while I appreciate that at teen education it might be a different matter.

I have served as a educator for fifteen years, and such trends continue for a few weeks. This trend will diminish soon – this consistently happens, especially once their junior family members start saying it and it’s no longer cool. Subsequently they will be on to the next thing.

‘Sometimes joining the laughter is necessary’

I first detected it in August, while teaching English at a international school. It was primarily male students uttering it. I taught teenagers and it was prevalent among the less experienced learners. I had no idea its significance at the time, but I’m 24 years old and I recognized it was simply an internet trend comparable to when I was at school.

The crazes are constantly changing. ““Skibidi” was a well-known trend back when I was at my educational institute, but it didn’t really appear as frequently in the classroom. Unlike ““sixseven”, “skibidi toilet” was not scribbled on the chalkboard in lessons, so pupils were less prepared to pick up on it.

I typically overlook it, or occasionally I will laugh with them if I inadvertently mention it, trying to understand them and recognize that it’s merely pop culture. I believe they merely seek to feel that sense of community and friendship.

‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’

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