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Around the UK, students have been exclaiming the expression “sixseven” during classes in the most recent viral trend to sweep across classrooms.

Whereas some teachers have chosen to patiently overlook the phenomenon, different educators have accepted it. Five instructors share how they’re dealing.

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

During September, I had been speaking with my secondary school class about getting ready for their qualification tests in June. I can’t remember specifically what it was in reference to, but I said words similar to “ … if you’re working to grades six, seven …” and the complete classroom burst out laughing. It surprised me completely by surprise.

My immediate assumption was that I’d made an reference to an inappropriate topic, or that they’d heard an element of my speech pattern that appeared amusing. Somewhat annoyed – but truly interested and mindful that they weren’t trying to be malicious – I asked them to elaborate. Honestly, the clarification they provided didn’t make significant clarification – I still had little comprehension.

What might have made it particularly humorous was the evaluating movement I had made while speaking. I later discovered that this often accompanies ““67”: My purpose was it to help convey the act of me verbalizing thoughts.

In order to end the trend I attempt to mention it as frequently as I can. No strategy deflates a craze like this more thoroughly than an teacher trying to participate.

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

Knowing about it aids so that you can avoid just unintentionally stating remarks like “indeed, there were 6, 7 million unemployed people in Germany in 1933”. When the number combination is unavoidable, possessing a strong student discipline system and expectations on learner demeanor really helps, as you can deal with it as you would any different disturbance, but I haven’t actually been required to take that action. Policies are necessary, but if students buy into what the learning environment is practicing, they will become less distracted by the online trends (at least in instructional hours).

With sixseven, I haven’t sacrificed any teaching periods, other than for an occasional raised eyebrow and stating ““indeed, those are numerals, excellent”. When you provide attention to it, it transforms into an inferno. I treat it in the same way I would manage any other disturbance.

Earlier occurred the nine plus ten equals twenty-one phenomenon a few years ago, and undoubtedly there will emerge a different trend following this. That’s children’s behavior. Back when I was childhood, it was performing television personalities mimicry (truthfully away from the school environment).

Children are spontaneous, and I believe it’s the educator’s responsibility to react in a way that redirects them in the direction of the course that will get them toward their academic objectives, which, hopefully, is graduating with qualifications rather than a disciplinary record a mile long for the use of arbitrary digits.

‘They want to feel a part of a group’

Young learners use it like a connecting expression in the recreation area: a student calls it and the others respond to demonstrate they belong to the same group. It resembles a call-and-response or a football chant – an shared vocabulary they possess. I believe it has any distinct importance to them; they simply understand it’s a thing to say. Regardless of what the latest craze is, they seek to feel part of it.

It’s banned in my learning environment, though – it triggers a reminder if they exclaim it – just like any other shouting out is. It’s notably tricky in maths lessons. But my class at year 5 are nine to 10-year-olds, so they’re fairly compliant with the regulations, while I understand that at high school it could be a separate situation.

I have worked as a educator for a decade and a half, and such trends persist for a month or so. This trend will die out in the near future – they always do, especially once their junior family members begin using it and it stops being fashionable. Then they’ll be focused on the following phenomenon.

‘Sometimes joining the laughter is necessary’

I first detected it in August, while teaching English at a international school. It was mainly male students repeating it. I taught teenagers and it was common with the junior students. I was unaware its significance at the time, but being twenty-four and I recognized it was merely a viral phenomenon similar to when I attended classes.

These trends are always shifting. “Skibidi toilet” was a popular meme at the time when I was at my educational institute, but it didn’t particularly appear as frequently in the classroom. Unlike ““67”, ““that particular meme” was not inscribed on the whiteboard in instruction, so pupils were less equipped to adopt it.

I just ignore it, or sometimes I will laugh with them if I accidentally say it, striving to understand them and appreciate that it’s simply contemporary trends. In my opinion they just want to feel that sense of community and companionship.

‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’

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