A bit about the other me… I am a single parent of two amazing daughters, Lauren (11) and Rachel (9), who teach me every day about life and learning. I have journeyed through parenting anxiety, school refusal, homeschooling, and supporting self-regulation and happiness to attain learning with purpose. My daughters are my collaborators and inspiration and often come with me on my conference trips. They have both had turns teaching post-secondary B. Ed. students about Minecraft and other technologies, so I’m pretty proud.
Gingerbread house time!! pic.twitter.com/QIVerJHXwD
— Valerie Irvine (@_valeriei) December 14, 2014
My girls and I are loving caregivers to two wonderful Havanese sister puppies, named Raven and Gracie, one guinea pig, named Sparkles, and several fish (our favourite is Bibble Bubble). We are also thrilled to have adopted into our family an amazing Alien named Stich, who is beloved by my youngest.
Raven
Gracie
I live in Oak Bay within Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I love it here and the amazing natural experiences that are at our fingertips. I create balance by walking, hiking, or jogging in this amazing neighbourhood. The view is amazing:
Back in the game! My jogging route. #dailynow #tiefit #fitedu #tiegrad pic.twitter.com/s3nXlH5i9M
— Valerie Irvine (@_valeriei) May 4, 2015
We hiked Mount Doug today. Took the Irvine trail too, at that. pic.twitter.com/QTiNrUMlFY
— Valerie Irvine (@_valeriei) April 7, 2015
But the backyard nature is a pretty sweet place to relax:
Enjoying my deck, the sounds of the birds, and some wifi surfing. Pizza in oven for 9yo and friend #happy pic.twitter.com/AhdOpQwKWT — Valerie Irvine (@_valeriei) May 8, 2015
I am a Vancouver expat, having grown up on the North Shore of Vancouver. I attended K12 schools in both North and West Vancouver. My father is a civil structural engineer of English and Scottish decent and my late mother was a Hungarian immigrant, having escaped during the 1956 uprisings. She endured a lot of hardship, including household occupation by both the Russians and the Germans during World War II. She came to Canada alone when she was 20 years old after walking away from a bread line-up in Budapest to head straight through farmland to cross a border to a new life. She was a strong and sometimes challenging individual, who became president of the B.C. Association for Adults and Children with Learning Disabilities, and fought for recognition of rights for special needs students in the 1970s/80s as one of my brothers had epilepsy and learning disabilities. We all know that the traditional education system can hurt some children, but it is up to all stakeholders to engage in order to recognize where the problems exist and to create meaningful change.