Get ready to finish strong and start even stronger with Friendzy. Below you will find everything you need to plan four engaging weeks of friendship fun. At the end of your four weeks of Friendzy, you will have the understanding and experience needed to begin Friendzy volume one in the 2022-2023 school year with intention, skill and fidelity.
Take a look below for the lay of the land—you and your students will be acquainted with the ways and resources of Friendzy in no time!
If at any point you get stuck in the mud, come across a "you shall not pass" bridge troll, or have questions about the unique flora and fauna in Friendzy land, drop us a line at [email protected]. We really like hearing from you!
Start your Friendzy journey with our Friendzy Quickstart video series. You'll meet some of the Friendzy team and get a short intro to what we're all about. Learn about how to use your Friendzy soft launch unit, “Bounce Back” in the classroom, along with a quick overview of the five core competencies that Friendzy integrates into all of our SEL resources.
Our classroom curriculum is your entrance into big city life. Not so big you'll get lost, but big enough to have all of the amenities you need. We've selected our resilience-focused unit, Bounce Back, for you to get a feel for the Friendzy. Bounce Back includes multiple explicit lessons that take 20-40 minutes of class time, digital companions, student and workbook pages. We’ve included 7 ways to teach Bounce Back and recommend you choose 4 lessons that match your teaching style, student preferences and comprehension levels. Print out the teaching planner below as a helpful tool for picking the lessons that are right for your class!
In addition to your weekly classroom lessons, Friendzy has turn-key SEL tools you can use on the daily to reinforce your Bounce Back learning objective. To keep things simple, we’ve included two of our highest impact daily reinforcements.
The Daily Check-in Tool | Hang our Daily Check-in poster on your door, on your classroom homepage, or on students’ desks and use it at the start of the day or during transitions.
SEL Exit Tickets | These can be used as a soft end to the day or during solo work time when students finish an assignment early.
Bonus! Saints and Virtues Daily Reinforcements | We are all called as Catholics to live a virtuous life. Our Catholic faith is the foundation and all we do, and our hope is that Friendzy daily reinforcements will further equip your students with practical skills that will help them to live a life of virtue.
The Friendzy Program goes beyond the classroom and creates connection and synergistic support through parent/caring resources. Get caring adults engaged in Friendzy by sending home our Bounce Back introductory parent letter and conversation cards.
Whole SchoolsThe Friendzy Program brings a unified language to school campuses and increases teacher collaboration and well being through turnkey resources.
Whole StudentsFriendzy educates the whole child by teaching students explicit friendship and emotional intelligence skills through the lens of scripture.
Whole CommunitiesThrough parent/caring resources, the Friendzy Program helps create a synergistic support network that aids in family and community connection at school, home, and in between.
Daily check-in tool | PRINT・GOOGLE SLIDES・GOOGLE FORM
SEL exit ticket | PRINT + GOOGLE SLIDES
Quick Start Video Guide | Google Slide Deck
Each of the video sessions listed and linked below will introduce to you various elements of the Friendzy Program intended to help you start strong with Friendzy! Click the link above to view a Google Slide Deck that houses all the videos below for easy plug-and-play presenting. Be sure to check the speaker notes for facilitator instructions & printable resources!
Welcome to the Friendzy Family | PRESENTERS: JOY ROBERTS + JULIE WIDMAN・DURATION | 02:08
The Five Core Competencies of SEL | PRESENTERS: JOY ROBERTS + JULIE WIDMAN・DURATION | 13:00 [08:00 CONTENT + 05:00 DISCUSSION]
Daily SEL Reinforcement Tools Intro | PRESENTERS: JOY ROBERTS + JULIE WIDMAN・DURATION | 06:34
Curriculum Quick Start | PRESENTER: VALARIE PEARCE・DURATION | 15:00 [05:00 CONTENT + 10:00 DISCUSSION]
Web Portal Tour | PRESENTER: HOLLY WINCHELL・DURATION | 09:00
DURATION | 01:21:00
In this session Friendzy co-founder, Julie Widman, and School Psychologist, Kristin O'Nesky, discuss and define stress, trauma and grief and discuss developmentally appropriate responses that can be used in the classroom to support students.
Pauses for connection included in the video session
All staff, volunteers and educators that interact with students.
Note-taking supplies
This video includes built in pauses and conversation prompts for large and small groups reviewing this session together. Consider ending your time with a live Q&A. If any specific questions come up that require additional support or resources, please reach out to your Friendzy success specialist or [email protected] to be connected with individualized support. We are here for you!
The Friendzy program is an easy button for caring for the social and emotional health of your students. Supercharge the easy button (and add wings, too) by connecting with our Catholic Schools Partnership Specialist, Whitney Stovall for 30 minutes over zoom.
Family connection
