Monday Motivator #8 2021-22

 

How do you make workshop work?

Ruth Ayres

Gretchen Schroeder

Grow Their Legs

One May evening I was backing out of the driveway when my daughter Sophie let out a little yelp. I immediately hit the brakes as she said, “Mom, what is that up against the garage door?” At first glance, it looked like a crumpled brown paper grocery bag. But when Sophie added, “Is that a baby deer?” I realized that she was right. We immediately got out of the car to take a closer look. It was so tiny—maybe about 18 inches curled up—with light brown fur dotted with white spots. It appeared to be peacefully sleeping, which was an unusual sight since we live in the city. We wondered what we should do about it, but since we had softball practice to get to, we had to get back in the car and go.
When we returned home that evening, the baby deer was still there. The next morning it was gone, but a day later it showed up again, this time staying for almost eight hours, just sleeping and seemingly abandoned by its mother. My daughters thought we had a new pet, but I was more skeptical. I wondered whether there was something I should be doing to help the little fawn. 
I was relaying the story to my mom when she told me that she had recently read an article about this phenomenon of baby deer being found alone in residential areas. It turns out that it is quite normal for mother deer to leave their babies alone while they go off to forage for food and that we should just leave the fawn alone.  When they are very young, the fawns cannot keep up with their mothers and are susceptible to predators, so mothers leave them in places where they will be safe, which is usually in tall grass or bushes, but can sometimes be out in the open like our driveway.
This mother deer thought that our driveway was a safe place for her fawn. She is not unlike the caregivers of my students who send their sons and daughters off to school hoping that they will find a safe place in my classroom where they will be nourished and “grow their legs.” This is especially true for me as a teacher of high school seniors. My students are almost ready to move on to the next stage in their lives. They still need encouragement and coaching in their reading and writing lives. 
On the other hand, there is something to be said about giving students space within a safe environment. Being left alone to make their own choices about what they will read and what they will write is its own form of nourishment. We’re often quick to intervene when we see students struggle, but within a safe environment some independence will help students to develop those strong legs that will allow them to enter the world and keep up.