🔗 Share this article

Around the UK, learners have been exclaiming the expression ““67” during instruction in the newest internet-inspired craze to spread through educational institutions.

Although some teachers have opted to patiently overlook the phenomenon, different educators have incorporated it. Five teachers describe how they’re managing.

‘I thought I had said something rude’

Earlier in September, I had been talking to my eleventh grade class about getting ready for their qualification tests in June. It escapes me specifically what it was in relation to, but I said a phrase resembling “ … if you’re working to results six, seven …” and the complete classroom erupted in laughter. It took me totally off guard.

My immediate assumption was that I had created an allusion to an offensive subject, or that they’d heard a quality in my speech pattern that sounded funny. Slightly exasperated – but truly interested and aware that they weren’t malicious – I asked them to explain. Honestly, the description they provided didn’t make much difference – I continued to have no idea.

What possibly caused it to be extra funny was the considering gesture I had executed while speaking. I later found out that this often accompanies ““sixseven”: I meant it to aid in demonstrating the act of me speaking my mind.

In order to eliminate it I aim to reference it as often as I can. No strategy deflates a trend like this more thoroughly than an teacher attempting to join in.

‘Feeding the trend creates a blaze’

Knowing about it helps so that you can steer clear of just blundering into comments like “well, there were 6, 7 hundred people without work in Germany in 1933”. If the number combination is unpreventable, maintaining a strong school behaviour policy and standards on pupil behavior really helps, as you can sanction it as you would any other interruption, but I haven’t actually needed to implement that. Guidelines are one thing, but if learners accept what the educational institution is practicing, they will become more focused by the online trends (especially in class periods).

Regarding six-seven, I haven’t sacrificed any lesson time, other than for an infrequent quizzical look and stating ““indeed, those are numerals, excellent”. When you provide attention to it, it transforms into a wildfire. I handle it in the equivalent fashion I would manage any different disturbance.

There was the mathematical meme trend a while back, and there will no doubt be a new phenomenon subsequently. This is typical youth activity. During my own childhood, it was performing comedy characters impressions (honestly out of the learning space).

Young people are unforeseeable, and In my opinion it falls to the teacher to respond in a approach that redirects them in the direction of the direction that will get them where they need to go, which, fingers crossed, is graduating with academic achievements instead of a disciplinary record extensive for the employment of arbitrary digits.

‘Students desire belonging to a community’

The children utilize it like a connecting expression in the schoolyard: one says it and the others respond to indicate they’re part of the identical community. It’s similar to a call-and-response or a football chant – an agreed language they possess. I believe it has any specific meaning to them; they simply understand it’s a thing to say. Whatever the latest craze is, they seek to be included in it.

It’s banned in my teaching space, though – it triggers a reminder if they call it out – similar to any different shouting out is. It’s notably difficult in mathematics classes. But my class at year 5 are children aged nine to ten, so they’re fairly accepting of the rules, while I appreciate that at high school it may be a distinct scenario.

I have served as a instructor for fifteen years, and such trends last for a few weeks. This phenomenon will fade away shortly – this consistently happens, particularly once their little brothers and sisters start saying it and it stops being fashionable. Afterward they shall be engaged with the subsequent trend.

‘Sometimes joining the laughter is necessary’

I started noticing it in August, while educating in English language at a foreign language school. It was primarily young men saying it. I taught ages 12 to 18 and it was common with the less experienced learners. I had no idea its meaning at the time, but as a young adult and I understood it was simply an internet trend similar to when I attended classes.

These trends are continuously evolving. ““Skibidi” was a well-known trend during the period when I was at my educational institute, but it didn’t particularly occur as often in the classroom. Differing from ““67”, ““the skibidi trend” was never written on the whiteboard in class, so pupils were less equipped to embrace it.

I just ignore it, or occasionally I will chuckle alongside them if I unintentionally utter it, trying to understand them and appreciate that it’s merely contemporary trends. I think they merely seek to experience that feeling of belonging and camaraderie.

‘Lighthearted usage has diminished its occurrence’

I have worked in the {job|profession