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Around the UK, school pupils have been calling out the expression ““six-seven” during lessons in the most recent viral craze to sweep across educational institutions.

While some educators have chosen to calmly disregard the craze, different educators have incorporated it. A group of educators explain how they’re dealing.

‘I believed I’d made an inappropriate comment’

Earlier in September, I had been addressing my year 11 students about preparing for their GCSE exams in June. It escapes me specifically what it was in relation to, but I said a phrase resembling “ … if you’re working to grades six, seven …” and the whole class erupted in laughter. It surprised me totally off guard.

My initial reaction was that I’d made an hint at something rude, or that they’d heard an element of my accent that sounded funny. A bit exasperated – but truly interested and conscious that they had no intention of being hurtful – I asked them to elaborate. Frankly speaking, the explanation they then gave didn’t provide significant clarification – I remained with little comprehension.

What could have made it extra funny was the evaluating movement I had performed during speaking. I have since found out that this often accompanies “six-seven”: My purpose was it to assist in expressing the process of me verbalizing thoughts.

To end the trend I try to bring it up as much as I can. No strategy reduces a phenomenon like this more emphatically than an teacher attempting to participate.

‘Providing attention fuels the fire’

Understanding it assists so that you can prevent just blundering into statements like “for example, there existed 6, 7 hundred people without work in Germany in 1933”. In cases where the numerical sequence is unavoidable, having a strong classroom conduct rules and standards on learner demeanor really helps, as you can sanction it as you would any different disruption, but I’ve not really needed to implement that. Rules are one thing, but if learners accept what the learning environment is doing, they will become more focused by the viral phenomena (particularly in lesson time).

Concerning sixseven, I haven’t lost any instructional minutes, other than for an periodic quizzical look and saying “yes, that’s a number, well done”. If you give oxygen to it, then it becomes a blaze. I handle it in the equivalent fashion I would treat any different interruption.

Earlier occurred the mathematical meme craze a previous period, and certainly there will appear another craze following this. It’s what kids do. During my own childhood, it was performing comedy characters impressions (admittedly outside the school environment).

Young people are unpredictable, and I think it’s an adult’s job to react in a way that guides them back to the path that will get them toward their academic objectives, which, fingers crossed, is completing their studies with certificates instead of a disciplinary record a mile long for the employment of meaningless numerals.

‘Students desire belonging to a community’

Students use it like a bonding chant in the schoolyard: a student calls it and the others respond to demonstrate they belong to the equivalent circle. It’s like a verbal exchange or a football chant – an shared vocabulary they use. I believe it has any distinct meaning to them; they simply understand it’s a thing to say. Regardless of what the latest craze is, they want to be included in it.

It’s banned in my teaching space, nevertheless – it triggers a reminder if they call it out – identical to any other shouting out is. It’s especially tricky in mathematics classes. But my pupils at year 5 are children aged nine to ten, so they’re quite accepting of the guidelines, whereas I recognize that at teen education it might be a different matter.

I’ve been a teacher for a decade and a half, and these crazes persist for three or four weeks. This craze will fade away in the near future – this consistently happens, especially once their younger siblings commence repeating it and it stops being trendy. Subsequently they will be focused on the following phenomenon.

‘Occasionally sharing the humor is essential’

I began observing it in August, while instructing in English at a foreign language school. It was mainly young men saying it. I educated ages 12 to 18 and it was widespread with the junior students. I had no idea what it was at the time, but being twenty-four and I recognized it was simply an internet trend comparable to when I was a student.

The crazes are constantly changing. ““Skibidi” was a familiar phenomenon during the period when I was at my teacher preparation program, but it failed to exist as much in the learning environment. Differing from ““sixseven”, ““that particular meme” was not inscribed on the chalkboard in class, so learners were less prepared to adopt it.

I typically overlook it, or occasionally I will chuckle alongside them if I unintentionally utter it, trying to empathise with them and recognize that it’s merely contemporary trends. In my opinion they merely seek to enjoy that sensation of togetherness and companionship.

‘Lighthearted usage has diminished its occurrence’

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