‘You just have to laugh’: several UK educators on dealing with ‘six-seven’ in the educational setting

Around the UK, learners have been exclaiming the expression ““six-seven” during classes in the latest meme-based phenomenon to sweep across classrooms.

Whereas some educators have decided to stoically ignore the craze, others have accepted it. Five teachers share how they’re managing.

‘I thought I had said something rude’

During September, I had been talking to my year 11 class about studying for their GCSE exams in June. I don’t recall exactly what it was in connection with, but I said words similar to “ … if you’re aiming for marks six, seven …” and the entire group erupted in laughter. It caught me totally off guard.

My initial reaction was that I had created an reference to an offensive subject, or that they detected an element of my pronunciation that seemed humorous. Somewhat frustrated – but genuinely curious and aware that they had no intention of being hurtful – I persuaded them to clarify. Honestly, the description they offered didn’t make much difference – I still had no idea.

What possibly made it especially amusing was the considering movement I had made while speaking. I have since discovered that this typically pairs with “six-seven”: I had intended it to assist in expressing the process of me thinking aloud.

With the aim of kill it off I try to bring it up as often as I can. No strategy deflates a trend like this more emphatically than an grown-up attempting to join in.

‘Feeding the trend creates a blaze’

Understanding it helps so that you can steer clear of just unintentionally stating statements like “well, there were 6, 7 thousand people without work in Germany in 1933”. In cases where the digit pairing is inevitable, possessing a strong classroom conduct rules and standards on student conduct really helps, as you can address it as you would any additional disturbance, but I rarely had to do that. Policies are one thing, but if students embrace what the educational institution is practicing, they will remain less distracted by the online trends (especially in class periods).

Concerning six-seven, I haven’t wasted any lesson time, except for an occasional quizzical look and saying ““correct, those are digits, good job”. When you provide attention to it, it evolves into an inferno. I address it in the same way I would manage any other disturbance.

Earlier occurred the mathematical meme trend a while back, and certainly there will appear another craze following this. That’s children’s behavior. During my own youth, it was doing Kevin and Perry impersonations (truthfully away from the school environment).

Children are spontaneous, and I believe it’s the educator’s responsibility to behave in a manner that steers them toward the direction that will help them where they need to go, which, fingers crossed, is coming out with qualifications instead of a conduct report a mile long for the use of meaningless numerals.

‘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 remaining students reply to demonstrate they belong to the same group. It resembles a call-and-response or a sports cheer – an shared vocabulary they share. I don’t think it has any particular importance to them; they simply understand it’s a trend to say. No matter what the latest craze is, they seek to be included in it.

It’s forbidden in my teaching space, though – it’s a warning if they exclaim it – just like any different calling out is. It’s notably difficult in numeracy instruction. But my pupils at primary level are nine to 10-year-olds, so they’re fairly adherent to the rules, although I understand that at secondary [school] it could be a different matter.

I’ve been a instructor for 15 years, and these crazes persist for three or four weeks. This craze will fade away shortly – it invariably occurs, notably once their junior family members start saying it and it’s no longer trendy. Subsequently they will be on to the next thing.

‘You just have to laugh with them’

I started noticing it in August, while instructing in English at a foreign language school. It was mostly young men saying it. I taught ages 12 to 18 and it was widespread among the less experienced learners. I had no idea its significance at the time, but as a young adult and I understood it was merely a viral phenomenon comparable to when I was a student.

Such phenomena are constantly changing. ““Toilet meme” was a popular meme at the time when I was at my teacher preparation program, but it didn’t really appear as frequently in the learning environment. In contrast to “six-seven”, “skibidi toilet” was not inscribed on the board in instruction, so students were less equipped to adopt it.

I just ignore it, or periodically I will chuckle alongside them if I accidentally say it, attempting to relate to them and recognize that it’s merely youth culture. I think they merely seek to experience that feeling of belonging and camaraderie.

‘Lighthearted usage has diminished its occurrence’

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