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I had a few things in mind before I came to the room to start my observation on X113. I wanted to see if he was clumsy or well-coordinated, what large and motor skills he exhibits, how often he can repeat the same activity or motions with his body, and how other children respond to his attempts to play. The first thing that I noticed was whether or not he was clumsy. I would say that X113 wasn’t clumsy in the way that most people think about. He did not trip over his own feet or drop things. However, he did tend to walk a little differently, not lifting his feet entirely from the ground. His motor skills exhibited varied from incredible and expertise, to underdeveloped and gauche. His one specific motor skill turned up during math. This caught my attention rapidly. I was in shock at his perfect calligraphic-type curves and degrees that he used in his written numbers. Aside from the fact that he is only in first grade and can form his numbers like a calligraphy artist, I was also astonished because of the fact that his handwritten alphabet letters are presented as the other extreme, or maladroit. His coloring is within the lines, and his hard work shows through. As I watched him cutting, he would cut arms off of people and animal cut-outs. His cutting is not so great. His walking, as I mentioned before, is a little different, but he can definitely get around. When it comes to running, his feet kick out like a frog. Aside from a child’s motor skills in terms of large and small skills and clumsy or well-coordinated, you should also make sure that the child is on track with how many times the child can repeat one activity or motion. X113 had to take frequent breaks from handwriting his letters and forming words, every four to five seconds. It was actually painful for his wrists. I noticed that his grasp when he held onto the pencil was like a person getting ready to hammer nails into a shed. This caused him to take at least 3 X longer to complete his work than the other children. His physical activity in P.E. was limited, and I noted that he had low-muscle tone and was not at all interested in competition with physical activities. When X113 was playing, some of the boys or girls would get him to play a little bit and loved listening to his long strands of interesting facts he could recite! However, X113 never initiated the conversation. I found this kid very interesting and I know that he has bright ideas. His social skills are isolated and nonverbal most of the time. However, when something is exciting to him, this kid won’t stop talking! You literally can’t get him to stop, let alone stay still. It’s near impossible to get a word in or distract him even a little of subject! He does have fits in class every once in a while. When he does have fits in class it is either caused by talking and rowdiness, not understanding something, transitioning from one plan to another, or P.E. In P.E. this is caused by his inattentiveness. He does everything at the wrong time. (ie: he was in his own line for a while before I took him where he was supposed to be w/ the other lines that had 4 children each) His motor expressions shown with his face indicated that he was lost. He did follow one step successfully of holding out his hand when he was in the front of the line. This game consisted of three steps. His motor skills are pretty low, and even with eating. He actually gums his food like a baby would eat their apple sauce. He touched about ¼ of his food in the time they give for lunch because he is such a slow eater. It made sense to me why he would tend to grab for the soft foods rather than hard or meaty consistencies. I have also decided, on my own judgment, that his walk is not so much a motor skill issue (well, it is) as much as it is just another interesting thing about him!