‘It’s impossible not to smile’: five UK educators on handling ‘six-seven’ in the classroom
Across the UK, learners have been calling out the expression ““six-seven” during instruction in the newest meme-based trend to take over classrooms.
While some teachers have opted to calmly disregard the trend, others have embraced it. A group of instructors describe how they’re managing.
‘My initial assumption was that I’d uttered something offensive’
During September, I had been addressing my eleventh grade students 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 grades six, seven …” and the whole class burst out laughing. It surprised me totally off guard.
My first thought was that I’d made an hint at an offensive subject, or that they detected a quality in my speech pattern that sounded funny. A bit annoyed – but truly interested and aware that they weren’t trying to be hurtful – I persuaded them to explain. To be honest, the clarification they then gave didn’t make greater understanding – I remained with minimal understanding.
What possibly caused it to be especially amusing was the weighing-up movement I had made while speaking. Subsequently I discovered that this frequently goes with ““67”: I meant it to aid in demonstrating the process of me thinking aloud.
In order to eliminate it I attempt to bring it up as much as I can. No approach reduces a craze like this more thoroughly than an teacher striving to participate.
‘Feeding the trend creates a blaze’
Understanding it helps so that you can prevent just unintentionally stating remarks like “well, there were 6, 7 million jobless individuals in Germany in 1933”. If the digit pairing is unpreventable, maintaining a rock-solid school behaviour policy and standards on pupil behavior is advantageous, as you can deal with it as you would any different disturbance, but I’ve not really needed to implement that. Policies are necessary, but if pupils buy into what the educational institution is doing, they will become more focused by the viral phenomena (particularly in lesson time).
Regarding six-seven, I haven’t sacrificed any teaching periods, other than for an occasional quizzical look and stating “yes, that’s a number, well done”. Should you offer focus on it, it transforms into a wildfire. I address it in the equivalent fashion I would handle any other disruption.
Earlier occurred the nine plus ten equals twenty-one phenomenon a previous period, and certainly there will appear a new phenomenon after this. This is typical youth activity. When I was childhood, it was imitating Kevin and Perry impersonations (honestly out of the school environment).
Children are spontaneous, and I think it’s an adult’s job 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 completing their studies with certificates as opposed to a behaviour list a mile long for the employment of arbitrary digits.
‘Students desire belonging to a community’
Students use it like a bonding chant in the schoolyard: one says it and the others respond to show they are the identical community. It’s like a interactive chant or a football chant – an agreed language they use. I believe it has any particular significance to them; they simply understand it’s a trend to say. No matter what the current trend is, they seek to experience belonging to it.
It’s prohibited in my classroom, however – it’s a warning if they exclaim it – just like any different shouting out is. It’s particularly challenging in maths lessons. But my students at primary level are nine to 10-year-olds, so they’re quite accepting of the rules, whereas I appreciate that at teen education it could be a different matter.
I’ve been a teacher for 15 years, and such trends persist for three or four weeks. This craze will die out shortly – this consistently happens, particularly once their little brothers and sisters commence repeating it and it ceases to be trendy. Afterward they shall be engaged with the next thing.
‘Occasionally sharing the humor is essential’
I first detected it in August, while educating in English language at a foreign language school. It was mostly boys saying it. I taught teenagers and it was widespread with the younger pupils. I didn’t understand its meaning at the time, but as a young adult and I understood it was merely a viral phenomenon comparable to when I attended classes.
The crazes are always shifting. ““Skibidi” was a well-known trend at the time when I was at my educational institute, but it failed to exist as much in the educational setting. In contrast to “six-seven”, “skibidi toilet” was never written on the board in class, so pupils were less prepared to embrace it.
I just ignore it, or periodically I will laugh with them if I accidentally say it, trying to understand them and understand that it is just pop culture. I think they just want to feel that sense of community and friendship.
‘Playfully shouting it means I rarely hear it now’
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