I was talking with a student, joking that she is so kind to everyone that she probably doesn’t even have a mean face.

“Let me see your mean face,” I say with a smile.

“I don’t have one!” she insisted.

To elicit some kind of reaction that might lead to a “mean face,” I suggest to her a cruel scenario: “Imagine you’re walking down the street and you see some kid kick a dog. Show me the mean face you’d give the kid.”

She thought about it a moment, then responded, “I would probably go help the puppy first.”

If only I had more students like that…