Lets All Connect For Dot Day and Make Our Mark On The World!

For the last three years we have celebrated International Dot Day in our school and with others around the world.  We have connected in the library, in our community, and online.  We have made our mark through reading, writing, listening, creating, and collaborating.

And we don't just celebrate on September 15th. We celebrate all throughout the year and encourage our young people to make their mark every single day in all things they do.

Just like Peter Reynolds and his beautiful book The Dot has inspired all of us and will continue to do so this year.

Last year over 850,000 participants in every U.S. state and across all seven continents connected to celebrate the creativity, inspiration, and voice in all of us.

This year the goal is to connect more than a million people around the world. And I know we will!

Over the last few weeks at the ISTE and ALA conferences, on Twitter, Facebook, and through emails I have had dozens of comments and questions about Dot Day celebrations and connections.

And after talking to my dear friend Matthew Winner we decided it was time to start connecting and talking about Dot Day!

(You can also read Matthew's post on Dot Day here too!)

We have created the Google Doc above so everyone has a place to start these connections and a place to start collaborating.

Please go to the "International Dot Day Connections 2013" Google Doc and leave your mark by adding your "Dot Day MARK" with all of your contact information (like the MARK I made above).

Then start connecting....looking for connections that will work for your students, school, and you.  The days above are just a beginning....add more if you would like.  This is a Google Doc that is all of ours.

We have had so many wonderful connections through our Dot Day celebrations.  My dear friend John Schu and I created this Animoto of our Dot Day in 2011 and it is filled with ideas.

You can read about our connections for Dot Day and how we made our mark on these blog posts....

Today The Students Made Their Mark...On Each Other, The World, and Me!

What A Fun Week Celebrating Dot Day!

Next Up....Dot Day Celebration!

A Dot Day Scavenger Hunt In Nature and MackinVIA

I have also love the ideas that the Celebri-DOTS blog gives all of us.  My amazing friend Terry Shay started this blog last year.  It is a place "filled with other authors, illustrators, and celebrities who share in the dream of a more creative world."  I can't wait for my students to make their very own Celebri-DOT too.

 You can connect to Dot Day Connect on Twitter at @dotdayconnect and

on the International Dot Day Facebook page.

You can find lots of great resources, activity ideas, and information on Peter Reynold's webpage for The Dot.

I can't wait to start connecting and planning for Dot Day.  It is one of my favorite times of the year.

And once again what I love the most....

It inspires all of us to remember how special and unique each and every one of us are.

We all have a mark to leave on the world and the people we touch.

Lets leave our mark on the world for International Dot Day.  Please sign up here to join in this special event and join our Google Doc to connect with all of us.