With great gratitude comes great appreciation. Thank you and have a wonderful summer!

Dear Richard D. James, Thanks for all the nightmares. Here is a bedroom beat inspired by the goodness of Aphex Twin. Yours, LMSolfeggio

5 of 10 ways to cultivate gratitude (join us for 6-10) 1. Create a Gratitude Ritual. 2. Send a thank-you note. 3. Give a free hug. (if that is appropriate and welcome) 4. Give thanks for today or just try to find the space to be thankful you’re alive! 5. Do someone a free favor. 6. Give a little gift. 7. Give someone a list of all they’ve done that you’re grateful for. 8. Acknowledge them publicly. 9. Surprise them with kindness. 10. Say thanks even for negative things in your life.

This month we will focus on gratitude as an essential SEL Skill. However, due to the most recent acts of gun violence we need to pause for a moment of reflection, and a venting of our own unpleasant emotion information, before we get into our work with gratitude. Join us for this important work.

We are considering some of the traits of optimism. When bad things happen do you recognize a way to explain them as, general in life, specific in incident, and temporary overall? Join us for this!

When you explain the "why" something is bad when it is bad, do you make personal, permanent, and pervasive? What does that even mean? Let's find out.

May is AAPI Heritage Month and we are considering the skills of Seattleite, Wing Luke. We do not know Wing Luke but we can look at his life and guess that he probably had the skills of using both pessimism and optimism in order to make positive change in our community. You can too! Join us!

Do you recognize a pattern in the way you explain to yourself the "why" behind the way things are? Did you know that you can learn to recognize how you explain things to yourself? Join us for this important learning!

Did you know that you can have a choice about how you look at things? Sometimes you may want to see things through a positive lens. Sometimes you may want to view things through a negative lens. The choice can be yours, when you know how to use it. Join us!

Understanding your perspective (your point-of-view) and other people's perspective (their point-of-view) is one of the foundations of empathy. Empathy is an important Social Emotional Learning Skill. Join us for a short connection between perspective and empathy.

We are starting this month's theme of perspective by thinking about point-of-view. Hear a story and some great quotes about perspective. All featured music created by our own community! Join us!

Adapting well is dependent on the culture of and context of the situation and the people involved. Today we share a story that may help you think about resilience in your life. Join us!

Resilience may be most easily defined as the ability to adapt well after a challenge, setback, or struggle. This week are asking students to reflect on their skills of resilience. When is a time you were able to bounce back after something difficult? Join us!

Have you had times in your life when you've continued working toward a goal even when it is difficult? That's perseverance. You have it in you. Take time to reflect on your skills and experience!

We are starting Women's History Month strong, by focusing on the SEL skills of Perseverance and Resilience. Knowing how to use Perseverance and Resilience can help you achieve your goals. Find out how!

Taking more resources than you need may keep others from getting what they need. This is called resource hoarding. In schools bullying is a form of resource hoarding. See the connection between this and so many other things in our latest episode. Music to highlight Black Excellence - Bring the Noise - Public Enemy Changes - Tupac Shakur Still I Rise - Maya Angelou Don't Believe the Hype - Public Enemy

Resources matter. Not having enough resources to do the things we need or want to do is called resource scarcity. When resources are scarce we need to ration what we have to make things work. Join us for thinking about this in our school community. Special music: Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud - James Brown Multi Colored Blue (with Wynton Marsalis) - JLCO Mood Indigo (with Wynton Marsalis) - JLCO

Understanding how resources like land, air, water, time, and human life energy shape our emotion information is foundational for knowing how to build and maintain healthy relationships with self and others. Join us! Special music from the Benedict College Trombone Section - Black and Blues

Pausing to remember our skills of empathy. Empathy is the ability to share in the feelings of others from different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and social situations. Join us for this important refresher. Special guest music: Sweethearts on Parade - Louis Armstrong New Orleans Function - Louis Armstrong No Fun - The Stooges What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

We need to pump the brakes for a second and check-in with how we're feeling in regards to the experience of "worry". Are you feeling a lot of worry these days? Are you worrying more than you'd like to be? Join us for this important pause.

Social Engagement is one way to keep the work of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive. Join us to see how to apply SEL skills in your community! Guest music: Coleman Hawkins - Body and Soul Laura Karpman & Raphael Saadiq - Never a True Believer

Starting with basic definitions for school: Equality = Same Equity = Fair Paradox = D'oh! Music samples from Roy Eldridge, Van Halen, Our School Choir, He Who Shall Not Be Named Join us!

Happy Holidays!

Just a quick welcome back. Wishing you a wonderful reconnection with friends in school.