First, you have to remember that middle schoolers are basically elementary school kids with lockers & hormones. I mention this so that you will have some context when I report that two of my students have this SAME argument EVERY day:

"You're stupid."

"You're stupider."

"You're so stupid you could throw a rock and miss the ground."

"You're so stupid you squashed your baby brother because your mom told you to babysit."

"You're so stupid ..."

(Where do they get these, I can't help wondering: is there a website?)

Earlier this week I got fed up & jettisoned my lesson plan & gave them 40 minutes on Logic 101. How to discriminate between arguments & opinions. How to recognize & thwart logical fallacies. How to win an argument by offering supporting evidence or proof.  College level ideas distilled and explained via the use of as many video game analogies as I could think of on the fly. 

So today I'm doing roll at my desk & it begins. I roll my eyes and try to summon up my Happy Place.

"You're stupid."

"You're stupider."

And then it happens.

"Oh yeah? What's YOUR grade in this class?"

Having supported his argument with irrefutable evidence, the victorious student went on to crow over his victory all the rest of class.

I'm not naive enough to imagine that my impromptu lesson in logic will have any lasting impact.  But makes me smile to think that for one brief, shining moment, reason actually prevailed over the ridiculous.

You don't get many of those moments in middle school.