~ Still Learning ~

As much as I teach them, they teach me just as much. For example, we just finished reading the book Because of Winn Dixie by one of my favorite authors, Kate DiCamillo. I've been reading this book aloud to kids for several years now. It's a great story, but one I've read many, many times. So I was surprised when my kids pointed out something I've never noticed before.

The main character's father is the pastor of a small Baptist church. His wife, the main character's mother, has left them before the book even starts, and that is something he won't talk about, even to his daughter. Throughout the book, the main character doesn't refer to her father as Dad or Daddy; she calls him "The Preacher." I had never really given it a second thought, until this year. As we were reading, S piped up.

"Why does she call her Dad 'the preacher?' That's pretty weird."

I asked for thoughts from the rest of the class, and they had some good ideas, all centering around the disconnect the main character feels from her father. As they were sharing, I was thinking, "I was an English major - I had to write incredibly lengthy essay answers to questions about stuff just like this. How is it that I've never noticed this relationship being mirrored in the name she calls her dad?"

But the kids weren't done. About a week later, we were getting close to finishing the book. There's a climactic scene with the girl and her dad looking for their lost dog, and she finally has the courage to ask her dad about why her mom left and why he didn't try to stop her. At last, her dad answers her questions and shares the hurt he's feeling too.

We're reading along, through the last chapter, when J blurts, "Hey, she started calling her daddy 'Daddy' instead of the preacher!" Again, we discussed why, and again, I thought to myself, "How did I miss this?"

It's another reminder for me that this, teaching, will never be just a rote job, a numb "do the same thing over and over" job. Every group is unique, every group has something to teach me, too.