IBDP Coordinator / IB Computer Science Teacher Taejon Christian International School

I have worked with Ms. Sarah Huffman at Taejeon Christian International School (TCIS) for the past five years. As IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) Coordinator I have been able to observe her instruction, assessment and, both peer and student interactions. Sarah also assisted with the duties of IBDP Coordination for the 2010-2011 school year. Sarah has a professional skill set and work ethic that enable her to be a highly effective IB Diploma teacher. She has sought out professional growth experiences that are challenging and have a direct impact on improving her craft as a teacher. In my experience, it has been rare to have a teacher that is highly successful in three different IB areas. Sarah's ability to change hats between the environments of IB literature analysis, IB language acquisition and Theory of Knowledge is in itself admirable. However, the fact that our scores have consistently improved under her teaching is more than anecdotal evidence that she is an exemplary IB Diploma teacher. And, she has shown her teaching style is effective with the very students that struggle the most with the IB courses. Given how our Korean population responds to teachers in general, it is very safe to say that Ms. Huffman really builds up and encourages students in a positive way to work harder. In my experience with IBDP teachers, there is a big difference between having IB experience and being IB proficient. Highly skilled teachers, like Sarah, have a thorough understanding of the IB assessment criteria and IB assessment tasks to the extent that they become their own. These exemplary IB teachers are then able to weave their own personal touches into the IB assessment criteria and tasks to take the students on an academically challenging, yet enjoyable learning journey. Ms. Huffman is one of the teachers that I consider to be a very proficient IBDP teacher. In my informal role of helping many staff with new technologies I know Sarah as one of the early adopters. It is common for her to discover aspects of a new system before anyone else, including myself! An excellent example was how she helped organize the voluminous files we collect with the IBDP each year. After just a short overview additional features on our Learning Management System she was quick to make a whole system that enables teachers to easily reach copies of past submissions, exams, recordings, and IB documents. Even more impressive to me was the perseverance that she had to ensure that everything was put up to the site for all areas of our IBDP courses. In the classroom Sarah makes full use of cloud technologies to make for efficient workflow with her students. She creates and recreates Internet accessible spaces to improve communications with her students. Sarah Huffman is a teacher that I can recommend wholeheartedly and without reservation. I believe she would add significantly to any high school faculty in numerous ways. Sincerely,

Mr. Ken Gunther

Taejon Christian International School

210-1 O-Jung Dong, Daedeok Gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea 306-819 Tel: 82-42-633-3663 Fax: 82-42-631-5732