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Around the UK, learners have been exclaiming the expression ““67” during instruction in the latest viral craze to take over schools.

Whereas some educators have opted to stoically ignore the phenomenon, some have embraced it. Five educators share how they’re coping.

‘I thought I had said something rude’

During September, I had been talking to my year 11 tutor group about preparing for their GCSE exams in June. I can’t remember precisely what it was in relation to, but I said words similar to “ … if you’re working to results six, seven …” and the complete classroom burst out laughing. It surprised me completely by surprise.

My first thought was that I might have delivered an allusion to an inappropriate topic, or that they detected something in my accent that sounded funny. A bit frustrated – but honestly intrigued and conscious that they had no intention of being malicious – I asked them to clarify. Honestly, the description they then gave didn’t make greater understanding – I still had minimal understanding.

What could have caused it to be especially amusing was the evaluating gesture I had executed while speaking. I later found out that this typically pairs with ““67”: I had intended it to aid in demonstrating the act of me verbalizing thoughts.

In order to kill it off I aim to reference it as frequently as I can. No strategy deflates a phenomenon like this more effectively than an teacher striving to participate.

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

Knowing about it aids so that you can prevent just accidentally making statements like “indeed, there were 6, 7 thousand unemployed people in Germany in 1933”. If the digit pairing is unpreventable, having a rock-solid school behaviour policy and expectations on pupil behavior really helps, as you can sanction it as you would any different interruption, but I haven’t actually needed to implement that. Guidelines are important, but if pupils embrace what the learning environment is practicing, they will become better concentrated by the online trends (particularly in lesson time).

With six-seven, I haven’t lost any teaching periods, except for an infrequent raised eyebrow and stating ““correct, those are digits, good job”. If you give focus on it, then it becomes a wildfire. I handle it in the equivalent fashion I would handle any different disturbance.

Earlier occurred the 9 + 10 = 21 craze a while back, and certainly there will appear a new phenomenon subsequently. That’s children’s behavior. Back when I was growing up, it was doing television personalities impersonations (admittedly away from the school environment).

Young people are unpredictable, and I believe it’s an adult’s job to respond in a way that guides them in the direction of the path that will enable them to their educational goals, which, with luck, is graduating with certificates rather than a conduct report lengthy for the employment of random numbers.

‘Students desire belonging to a community’

Students use it like a unifying phrase in the recreation area: one says it and the other children answer to demonstrate they belong to the equivalent circle. It resembles a verbal exchange or a stadium slogan – an common expression they possess. In my view it has any particular meaning to them; they just know it’s a trend to say. No matter what the latest craze is, they seek to be included in it.

It’s banned in my classroom, nevertheless – it’s a warning if they call it out – identical to any other verbal interruption is. It’s particularly tricky in numeracy instruction. But my students at fifth grade are children aged nine to ten, so they’re fairly compliant with the regulations, whereas I recognize that at teen education it could be a different matter.

I’ve been a teacher for 15 years, and these phenomena last for a few weeks. This trend will fade away in the near future – this consistently happens, notably once their little brothers and sisters begin using it and it ceases to be trendy. Afterward they shall be focused on the subsequent trend.

‘Sometimes joining the laughter is necessary’

I started noticing it in August, while teaching English at a language institute. It was mainly boys saying it. I educated teenagers and it was prevalent with the less experienced learners. I had no idea its significance at the time, but I’m 24 years old and I understood it was simply an internet trend akin to when I attended classes.

These trends are continuously evolving. ““Toilet meme” was a familiar phenomenon during the period when I was at my teacher preparation program, but it didn’t particularly appear as frequently in the learning environment. Differing from “six-seven”, ““that particular meme” was not scribbled on the whiteboard in class, so students were less equipped to embrace it.

I typically overlook it, or occasionally I will laugh with them if I inadvertently mention it, trying to empathise with them and recognize that it’s merely contemporary trends. I believe they just want to experience that feeling of community and camaraderie.

‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’

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