Elizabeth Calhoon, Certified Google Teacher and Manager of Educational Technology Services for the Santa Clara County Office of Education, conducts dozens of technology trainings for administrators and teachers throughout the year, including coaching around Google Apps for Education. And while many districts have embraced Google Apps in their classrooms, she noticed that no resource guide or handbook existed for teachers to reference the functional uses of these applications after they'd taken her classes.

In response to this unmet need, Calhoon and a team of Google Certified Teachers, including Kyle Brumbaugh, Robert Pronovost, Ramsey Musallam and Catlin Tucker, teamed up to author a 'cookbook' for Google Apps for Education, complete with all the 'ingredients, preparations, directions and serving suggestions' that educators would need to be successful in the classroom.  

All of the lessons, or 'recipes,' in Creating a Google Apps Classroom: An Educator's Cookbook are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and the National Educational Technology Standards (ISTE), and were also designed to be flexible across grade levels and content areas.

It took about a year to write and edit the book, due to the ever-changing nature of technology and the web, while the entire process took place online, with the team utilizing Google Docs and holding meetings via Google+ Hangouts.

Creating a Google Apps Classroom: An Educator's Cookbook was published on July 1, 2014 and is also available as an ebook.

Local education and community leaders will come together at 11 a.m. on August 27 at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation to kick off the San Jose - Silicon Valley first Chinese Star Contest, a competition co-sponsored by the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University in order to encourage K-12 students to explore Chinese language, art, poetry and culture.

  

"Our world is getting smaller every day, and the leaders of tomorrow are the students who learn how to engage in other cultures and languages," said Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Jon Gundery. "I am so pleased that, through this event, our students will begin building skills that will help prepare them for the global marketplace while also developing an appreciation of China's impressive cultural legacy."

The kickoff event will feature speakers from throughout the local education community, including Superintendent Gundry and representatives from San Francisco State University and the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco. In addition, Cupertino Union School District Superintendent Wendy Gudalewicz will speak to the impact that the district's Dual Immersion Mandarin program has had on students, and two students from Meyerholz Elementary School will share thoughts about their experience in a dual immersion program.

"We are very excited about this opportunity to team up with the Santa Clara County Office of Education and local schools and communities," said Jiaxin Xie, director of the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University. "Through these contests, we hope to provide a platform for Chinese learners to demonstrate their linguistic and cultural talents, and showcase their interest and achievements in learning Chinese language and culture with help from their teachers and parents. We hope that the study of Chinese will not just connect American students with the language, but also with the culture, literature, and rich history of China."