81. Dictionary.com named "6-7" Word of the Year & I'm Living in Idiocracy
Anti-Burnout For English Teachers, a podcast for inspired teachingShow Notes
Dictionary.com just named "6-7" their 2025 Word of the Year. It's not even a word—it's numbers from a viral song, celebrated for being "meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical." We used to think Idiocracy was satire. Now it feels prophetic. "6-7" becoming Word of the Year isn't just about slang—it reveals what we're valuing as a culture. We're not just dumbing things down; we're celebrating meaninglessness AS content. In this episode, I'm connecting what's happening in classrooms to this broader cultural shift toward brainrot...students who are genuinely smart but fluent in content designed to be meaningless, the anti-intellectualism we're not naming, and what teaching for meaning actually resists. What we're covering: • Why "6-7" as Word of the Year should concern teachers • The Idiocracy connection—celebrating absurdity over substance • What I'm seeing: awareness gaps, optimization culture, accountability issues • Teaching moves that resist meaninglessness: collaborative discussion, portfolio assessment, texts that require human thinking • Why slowing down to actually think is an act of resistance
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