‘Sometimes you’ve got to chuckle’: five UK teachers on coping with ‘six-seven’ in the school environment

Throughout the UK, school pupils have been shouting out the expression ““six-seven” during instruction in the most recent internet-inspired craze to spread through schools.

While some teachers have opted to calmly disregard the phenomenon, some have embraced it. Five educators share how they’re managing.

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

Back in September, I had been addressing my eleventh grade students about preparing for their secondary school examinations in June. I don’t recall specifically what it was in relation to, but I said words similar to “ … if you’re aiming for results six, seven …” and the whole class started chuckling. It caught me completely by surprise.

My first thought was that I might have delivered an reference to an inappropriate topic, or that they’d heard something in my pronunciation that appeared amusing. Somewhat annoyed – but truly interested and aware that they weren’t hurtful – I asked them to explain. To be honest, the description they provided didn’t make significant clarification – I still had little comprehension.

What could have made it especially amusing was the considering motion I had performed during speaking. I have since discovered that this frequently goes with ““sixseven”: My purpose was it to help convey the act of me verbalizing thoughts.

In order to end the trend I try to reference it as much as I can. No approach deflates a phenomenon like this more emphatically than an grown-up attempting to join in.

‘If you give oxygen to it, then it becomes an inferno’

Being aware of it assists so that you can avoid just blundering into remarks like “well, there were 6, 7 thousand unemployed people in Germany in 1933”. If the number combination is unpreventable, having a strong school behaviour policy and requirements on pupil behavior is advantageous, as you can deal with it as you would any additional disturbance, but I’ve not really had to do that. Rules are necessary, but if learners accept what the learning environment is practicing, they will remain better concentrated by the online trends (particularly in class periods).

With sixseven, I haven’t lost any lesson time, aside from an infrequent quizzical look and stating “yes, that’s a number, well done”. Should you offer oxygen to it, it evolves into a blaze. I address it in the equivalent fashion I would treat any different disturbance.

Earlier occurred the mathematical meme craze a previous period, and certainly there will appear a new phenomenon after this. That’s children’s behavior. Back when I was youth, it was performing Kevin and Perry impressions (honestly outside the learning space).

Children are spontaneous, and I think it falls to the teacher to respond in a approach that steers them back to the path that will get them to their educational goals, which, with luck, is coming out with academic achievements as opposed to a disciplinary record extensive for the utilization of arbitrary digits.

‘Children seek inclusion in social circles’

Young learners utilize it like a unifying phrase in the schoolyard: a pupil shouts it and the others respond to demonstrate they belong to the identical community. It resembles a verbal exchange or a football chant – an common expression they use. I don’t think it has any particular meaning to them; they merely recognize it’s a phenomenon to say. Regardless of what the latest craze is, they desire to be included in it.

It’s forbidden in my classroom, though – it triggers a reminder if they call it out – just like any different calling out is. It’s notably difficult in numeracy instruction. But my students at year 5 are children aged nine to ten, so they’re fairly adherent to the regulations, whereas I understand that at high school it could be a separate situation.

I’ve been a teacher for fifteen years, and these crazes continue for a month or so. This phenomenon will die out shortly – it invariably occurs, notably once their junior family members start saying it and it ceases to be fashionable. Then they’ll be focused on the subsequent trend.

‘You just have to laugh with them’

I began observing it in August, while educating in English language at a language institute. It was mostly young men repeating it. I instructed students from twelve to eighteen and it was prevalent with the younger pupils. I was unaware its meaning at the time, but being twenty-four and I understood it was merely a viral phenomenon comparable to when I attended classes.

The crazes are always shifting. ““Toilet meme” was a well-known trend during the period when I was at my teacher preparation program, but it didn’t really exist as much in the educational setting. Unlike “six-seven”, ““the skibidi trend” was not inscribed on the whiteboard in class, so learners were less equipped to pick up on it.

I typically overlook it, or periodically I will laugh with them if I unintentionally utter it, striving to relate to them and appreciate that it’s simply pop culture. In my opinion they simply desire to enjoy that sensation of belonging and friendship.

‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’

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Ashley Fischer
Ashley Fischer

Elena is a tech enthusiast and science writer with a passion for uncovering the latest innovations and sharing knowledge with a global audience.