International Dot Day 2014- Planning

Many of my educator friends have gone back to school, and alas, here I sit. Our school has undergone  some renovations this summer and the building is not quite ready. A positive to this is it is giving me time to get a head start on planning. 

One of my most favorite celebrations in the library happens very early in the school year.  It is International Dot Day on September 15thish. The "ish" because you can celebrate it at anytime around that day. The celebration centers around the book, THE DOT by Peter Reynolds and shares the idea that we should  be brave and make our mark! Thanks to my friends, Matthew Winner (The Busy Librarian) and Shannon Miller (The Library Voice) I have had the opportunity to connect my students before and can't wait for this year! 

Our students have celebrated Dot Day for the past couple of years and look forward to the opportunity to create & connect with others. You can read about how we celebrated Dot Day 2013, which always ends up being a week long celebration. We have colored dots, Skyped, shared our ideas of how we could make our mark, used technology to create & share dots, and much more! It is always a crazy, busy week but one that sets the tone for the whole year. A year that is full of creating, collaborating, and connecting!

There are great ideas for ways to celebrate on the International Dot Day website and on Pinterest, of course! But truly, no Dot Day is complete with out connections. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect your students with other students around the country and possibly the world. Matthew Winner has a Skype in the Classroom International Dot Day lesson that will help you get connected. There is also a Dot Day Google Doc to help you make connections with other educators. Many teachers and librarians have already listed their information on the Google doc, so be sure to add yours! You might not know your schedule yet, but you can always add that later!

So go ahead! What are you waiting for? Go make your mark and get your students connected this school year!