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Around the UK, learners have been exclaiming the phrase “sixseven” during lessons in the most recent internet-inspired phenomenon to take over educational institutions.

While some teachers have opted to patiently overlook the trend, others have accepted it. Five educators explain how they’re coping.

‘I believed I’d made an inappropriate comment’

During September, I had been speaking with my year 11 students about studying for their secondary school examinations in June. It escapes me specifically what it was in connection with, but I said something like “ … if you’re working to grades six, seven …” and the complete classroom started chuckling. It took me entirely unexpectedly.

My first thought was that I’d made an reference to an offensive subject, or that they detected something in my accent that seemed humorous. A bit frustrated – but genuinely curious and mindful that they weren’t trying to be mean – I got them to elaborate. Honestly, the clarification they then gave didn’t provide greater understanding – I continued to have no idea.

What might have made it extra funny was the considering movement I had performed during speaking. I later learned that this typically pairs with ““sixseven”: My purpose was it to help convey the process of me verbalizing thoughts.

With the aim of end the trend I attempt to bring it up as frequently as I can. Nothing diminishes a phenomenon like this more emphatically than an adult striving to get involved.

‘Feeding the trend creates a blaze’

Knowing about it aids so that you can avoid just blundering into comments like “well, there were 6, 7 thousand jobless individuals in Germany in 1933”. When the number combination is inevitable, possessing a firm school behaviour policy and expectations on learner demeanor proves beneficial, as you can deal with it as you would any different interruption, but I haven’t actually had to do that. Guidelines are necessary, but if pupils buy into what the educational institution is implementing, they will remain less distracted by the viral phenomena (particularly in instructional hours).

Concerning sixseven, I haven’t lost any instructional minutes, other than for an occasional quizzical look and stating ““correct, those are digits, good job”. If you give focus on it, it transforms into an inferno. I treat it in the equivalent fashion I would treat any different interruption.

There was the nine plus ten equals twenty-one trend a few years ago, and undoubtedly there will emerge another craze after this. It’s what kids do. Back when I was youth, it was doing Kevin and Perry impersonations (honestly outside the learning space).

Children are unforeseeable, and I believe it falls to the teacher to react in a approach that steers them back to the course that will get them toward their academic objectives, which, hopefully, is graduating with qualifications rather than a behaviour list extensive for the employment of arbitrary digits.

‘Children seek inclusion in social circles’

The children employ it like a bonding chant in the schoolyard: one says it and the others respond to demonstrate they belong to the equivalent circle. It resembles a verbal exchange or a football chant – an agreed language they possess. I believe it has any particular importance to them; they simply understand it’s a trend to say. No matter what the latest craze is, they want to experience belonging to it.

It’s forbidden in my classroom, however – it’s a warning if they call it out – just like any other calling out is. It’s particularly difficult in numeracy instruction. But my students at primary level are pre-teens, so they’re quite accepting of the guidelines, whereas I understand that at teen education it might be a different matter.

I have served as a educator for fifteen years, and these phenomena continue for a few weeks. This trend will die out in the near future – they always do, especially once their younger siblings begin using it and it stops being fashionable. Afterward they shall be focused on the next thing.

‘Occasionally sharing the humor is essential’

I began observing it in August, while teaching English at a language institute. It was primarily young men saying it. I instructed teenagers and it was widespread within the junior students. I was unaware what it was at the time, but being twenty-four and I understood it was just a meme similar to when I attended classes.

These trends are continuously evolving. “Skibidi toilet” was a familiar phenomenon at the time when I was at my training school, but it didn’t really occur as often in the learning environment. In contrast to “six-seven”, ““the skibidi trend” was not scribbled on the chalkboard in instruction, so pupils were less equipped to embrace it.

I typically overlook it, or occasionally I will laugh with them if I unintentionally utter it, trying to understand them and understand that it’s merely contemporary trends. I believe they just want to feel that sense of belonging and friendship.

‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’

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