Wake up. It's Monday. The sun's on the right. Home rooms the place where we
sharpen our minds. Grab your coffee and don't book your pen. Home room. Home room.
Let's do it again.
Whoa. Jacob. That was me. Did you could you tell that was me singing?
Wow. You are so talented. In case anybody wants to know, that's Busted Pencil's
home room. New intro music. People are like, what? I love it, though.
Well, thank you. I love it too, man. What a great way to kick off the
week and to welcome everybody into home room. I just I I'm I'm startled. I feel
so inspired to be in home room with my three favorite classmates as we get
to get ready for a week of in lots of fun coming on. But you know, I'm just
wondering though, Johnny and Jacob, I was listening to my nephew this weekend.
And he got in trouble last week at school because he said six, seven, six,
seven. Oh, wait. I was just like, what? Well, how could you be in trouble for
saying six, seven? Those are just two real numbers when you're counting to
ten. You have to say six and seven. If you're going to count from one to
ten, how could that be something that gets you into trouble? And I was just
like, wait a minute and holy crap, did I learn something from my nephew that I
had no idea was going on that six, seven is the kind of new weapon of mass
destruction that students are hurling in schools that their teachers and
principals nowadays. I was just taking a back and just thinking, my goodness, we
got to start our room because this the rest of this week, I'm going to be
worried about if I say six, seven, if I'm going to get in trouble. Six, seven.
It's a meme folks. It's a it's a popular meme spreading like wildfire across
this great country of ours. And it's also dictionary.com's word of the year.
It's also a widely used like inside joke Tim. I mean, you couldn't have
described it better. The reason why it's like spread and becomes such a popular
saying with the youths is because of exactly what you said. It's a playful
nonsensical interjection that you can find all the time. And when you when it's
said, when you say when somebody says, you know, six, seven, all room of kids
who shared the inside joke or the playful interjection of saying six, seven,
you know, and making the hand gesture, which is nonsensical and playful, there's
nothing like lewd or crude about it. There's nothing malicious about it.
Certainly us old folks who aren't in on the joke from its inception.
Don't really find it as funny. We find it more annoying, right, or a
distraction, but yet it keeps popping up. So it's it's it's out there for
better or for where's the young people love it. And it's everywhere now, Tim.
So I'm excited that you learned about it through your nephew. I mean,
it's in sports broadcasts. It's on other podcasts. It's everywhere I've been.
And it's certainly every teacher I talk to you. Anytime it happens or it's
said, and they are even now saying it almost as a sigh, like, oh, I did it.
I just said the two numbers together. Or, you know, I just did a problem in
the solution ended up being those two numbers together, whether it's 67 or
67 or someone asked what comes after, you know, six and someone says seven.
And everybody says six. Right. Yeah, they get it. It's funny. It's playful.
You know, hats off to the youths for having something that is just defining
a generation of young people, especially in school. So, but Tim, I think
you're bringing it to the show in a really interesting way of, you know,
what constitutes a distraction, what's community building and how we respond
to it as teachers, you know, I have a whole mixed bag of feelings about it.
But, you know, certainly happening in every single classroom probably
across this country, maybe even more broadly. So Tim, you did some research.
Well, yeah, I actually, I did some research. My first research was, of course,
then asking my sister-in-law, my nephew's mother. And I don't think that
her understanding was actually the way I'm finding it now, because she's like,
Oh, you know, that's, that's what they're really saying.
Six seven is they're referring to 69.
And no, you know, it's the devil. The referend to the devil.
Okay. But the sort of the neighbor of the, of the bee.
But so, but yeah, actually chalkbeat love the education journalism they do.
And in fact, said, you know, they, they went out and looked at how six seven is
really permeating, particularly classrooms in, in school teachers.
And actually, what I liked here is that instead of being frustrated,
annoyed and punishing the use of six seven,
they did a whole story focusing on teachers actually using is, quote,
from one teacher, I use six seven to my advantage and talks about being an
elementary school teacher leaning into it.
The principal and another teacher dressed as a six and a seven for Halloween,
during the Halloween parade costume, they created a six seven chant.
There's a six seven attention getter, you know, so one teacher in Michigan had
students write 67 word essays about the six seven trend.
A choir teacher had her students write and perform a song about six seven.
And so I kind of looked at this and went, you know what?
This is what we should be highlighting because my, my poor nephew shouldn't be
getting in trouble for something like this.
And in fact, you know, what a great, you know, creative, innovative group of
teachers here that's featured in chalkbeat have gone like, Hey, we're going to roll
with it and we're going to, we're going to have fun with it.
Maybe even learn a little bit with it.
And so I just thought, you know what?
Hey, I didn't know anything, especially with my nephew told me he got in
trouble for that.
But then I really got led astray and now coming to this and going, it's
actually quote, meaningless other than now kids have kind of in school have
used it as a way to annoy their teachers.
And but here now, you know what, take advantage, lean into it, go with the
teachers you're out there, check out chalkbeat and see some of these creative
ways to just actually take, take the sting and the kind of, you know, the,
the need for students to feel like they're, they're poking fun and agitating
you what the best way to demonstrate that is to show that actually doesn't
bother me.
And in fact, I'm going to have fun with it.
I better die away very quickly.
Yes, right?
It's just like all of a sudden now wait a minute, the teachers like it.
Oh, no, wait, we got to come up with something else.
You know, it will so anyway, that's my thoughts again, home room.
I know, you know, we like to make these, these quick, but Johnny and Jacob,
I just wanted to bring that and, you know, any final thoughts before we begin
a great new week of living and learning.
I'll just say to him that I'm in my mid 20s, but I'm also a bit of a crudmudge
and, you know, I'm, I don't like the youths and it just, it just brings me
joy to see that teachers across this country are co-opting this meme and ruining it
for the, the kids whose culture I know nothing of and who I don't understand.
So that brings joy to my, my cold heart.
You know, before the show, you said, well, Jacob probably knows my guys,
the fact that I know who Andy Griffith is when we talk means I don't know
about six seven.
Okay, I can't know everything.
I know about Johnny Carson.
I don't understand the six seven meme.
So I, I got, I got to specialize.
Johnny, what are your thoughts?
Oh, I mean, I love that we talked about this today.
I think this is for as annoyed as I get in, even in my classes, when students
who are, you know, in their late teens or early 20s are certainly part taking
in the youthful inside joke of the two numbers, six seven and six seven, right?
And I see, you know, football touchdown celebrations when the score is six seven,
all the players on the sidelines and in the stand, I mean, it's one of those things
where I just have to tip my hat to it and say, uh, I, I give it to the youth.
They've turned a meme into a live act and shared inside joke that has
certainly spread everywhere.
And even I've seen it in classrooms, Tim, I love that teachers are leaning
into it and it will certainly make an inside joke less inside.
But give it to the youth, Matt, they love it and they get just as excited
when their teacher says it's a, I mean, it's just like one of those things.
I think it's going to be around for a minute.
I personally can't wait for it to go away, but it's pretty funny.
And I have to chuckle about it and love that we're starting off our
week light like that and look forward to this really awesome week.
That should be lots of time spent with family friends, loved ones being
grateful for one another and for the great things that we do have going on in
our schools and our communities and in our world.
And with that, Tim, let's close out home room with now.
It's time for your moment of sin.
It is the citizenry rather than the government that is the ultimate source
of power and the locomotive that pulls the train of government in the direction
of equality and justice.
Thanks for taking a few more minutes than just six or seven minutes today.
And listening to Busted Pencils Home Room podcast and remember to grab great
other podcasts filled with more Busted Pencils content on Apple podcasts,
Spotify, and of course, on the civic media website.
And don't you miss class and session on Wednesday and find our special
drop of producer's choice on Friday.
And of course, catch Busted Pencils on Saturdays at three p.m.
Central time across all the civic media network stations for one hour of
your favorite blue collar scholars, Tim and Johnny, keep Busted Pencils.
Home Room.
Let's do it again.