If a question
has a right answer, it's not
open-ended.

Sometimes, it's good for me to be reminded that I'm not Jesus, that it's not my job to save the kids in my care, that I don't have to worry about controlling the direction of conversations. To keep myself on track, I try to review the following concepts before any interaction with a small group of students:

1) I will only ask open-ended questions. If a question has a right answer, it's not open-ended.
2) I will let kids be honest rather than "right."
3) I will remember that conversation time isn't my time.
4) I will not be tempted to respond to what kids share unless it is to clarify, to make sure I understand what they mean.