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Vanessa Ewing, Ph.D.Vanessa Ewing

Instructor
Gifted & Talented Endorsement Program
College of Education

1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80918

vanessaewing@hotmail.com


Dr. Vanessa Ewing has served as principal of a private elementary school focused on individualizing education to help children become exceptional, accelerated, and creative. Dr. Ewing has taught kindergarten, and both gifted and special education to children ages five to eighteen. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Individual Differences in Cognition from the University of Northern Colorado, a Master's Degree in Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Leadership from the University of Colorado.

For over a decade she has also taught teacher education and psychology courses to graduate and undergraduate students in Colorado. In these positions part of her duties have included teacher supervision and placement at a variety of schools throughout the Denver Metropolitan area. Her areas of specialization include differentiation, working with children identified as gifted, early childhood education, and working with children with exceptionalities. She always looks forward to working with UCCS students in the area of Gifted and Talented education.

Education

Ph.D., Educational Psychology, Learning and Cognitive Processes Concentration
University of Northern Colorado - 2005

M.A., Curriculum & Instruction: Leadership Emphasis
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs - 2008

Graduate Level Certification Program in Special Education: Students with Moderate Needs,
University of Northern Colorado - 2003

M.A, Psychology
University of Northern Colorado - 2000

B.A., Psychology
St. Cloud State University - 1997

A.A., Human Services Concentration
Lakewood Community College - 1995

Professional Recognition & Awards

  • Featured Instructor/Faculty, Metro State Extended Campus
    Spring 2011
  • Stories of Survival Winner, Broomfield Chamber of Commerce
    2009
  • Alumna of the Year Nominee, Century College
    2006
  • Early Childhood Professional Credential Level IV No. 1864
  • Professional Teacher License: Elementary Education
  • Professional Teacher License: Special Education I - Moderate Needs
  • Professional Teacher License: Special Education Generalist

Teaching

CURR 5201 Foundations of Gifted Education

CURR 5202 The Assessment and Identification of Gifted and Talented Students

CURR 5203 Psychology of the Gifted: Social / Emotional Needs and Special Populations

CURR 5211 Curriculum Models and Aligned Programming for Gifted Students

CURR 5214 Differentiated Instruction and Research - Based Strategies for Teaching the Gifted

CURR 5215 Gifted Program Leadership

Scholarship

Selected Publications

  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (Spring, 2011). "Best Practice" Educational Methods for the Development of Creative Eminence. National Association of Gifted Children Creativity Newsletter
  • Ewing, V. (June, 2007).  Oh, the Places You’ll Go: Taking Literacy Outside the Classroom!  Boulder County Kids Newspaper.
  • Ewing, V. (October, 2006).  The Empowerment of Gifted Minds: An Education Designed for Success.  Broomfielder Magazine.
  • Ewing, V. (August, 2006).  The (often unspoken) Benefits of a Private School Education.  Broomfielder Magazine.
  • Zook, N., Welsh, M., Ewing, V., & Alm, E.  (January, 2006).  Executive function in older adults.  Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.
  • Ewing, V., Stukas, A., & Sheehan, E.  (October, 2003).  Attitudes toward gay and lesbian instructors.  Journal of Social Psychology.

Professional Presentations

  • Ewing, V. (March, 2011). Gifted Education for Young Children. Colorado Association of Educators of Young Children, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (February, 2011). What about the Little Guys? Early Childhood Gifted Programs. Beyond Giftedness, Arvada, CO.
  • Ewing, V. & Kearney, K. (November, 2010). Preparing Leaders in Gifted and Talented Education: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. National Association for Gifted Children, Atlanta, GA.
  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (October, 2010). Creativity and Young Children: Theory and Practice. Colorado Association of Educators of Young Children, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (October, 2010). Great Beginnings: Strategies for Early Literacy Success. Colorado Association of Educators of Young Children, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (October, 2010). Identification and Programming for Early Childhood Gifted Education. Colorado Association of Educators of Young Children, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (April, 2010). Learning through Play, the Creative Way. Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (April, 2010). An Introduction to Gifted Education. Colorado Association of Educators of Young Children, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. & Ganus, L. (April, 2010). Creativity in the Classroom. Colorado Association of Educators of Young Children, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (October, 2009). An Introduction to Strategies for Teaching Gifted and Talented. Colorado Core Knowledge Conference, Federal Heights, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (October, 2008). Differentiated Instruction.  Colorado Core Knowledge Conference, Federal Heights, CO. 
  • Ewing, V. (March, 2004).  The Core Knowledge Curriculum: Teaching Strategies for Working with Students with Disabilities.  National Core Knowledge Conference, Atlanta, GA.
  • Ewing, V., McCammon, N., Muhn, S., Gatewood, T., & Macedo, M. (April, 2003). Connecting the Classroom to the Real World: A Teaching Module for Psychology of Prejudice Courses was presented at the Rocky Mountain
    Psychological Association in Denver, CO. 
  • Zook, N., Welsh, M., Retzlaff, P., Alm, E., Ewing, V., & Wakkinen, H. (February, 2003).  Tower of London - Revised and WAIS - III performance in older adulthood was presented at the International Neuropsychological
    Society Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • Zook, N., Welsh, M., Alm, E., & Ewing, V. (June, 2002).  Older adults show decline in performance on the Tower of London - R was presented at the American Psychological Society Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Ewing, V., Pepper, S., & Wakkinen, H.  (April, 2002).  A longitudinal study of undergraduate field experience was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association in Park City, Utah.
  • Ewing, V., & Smith, R.  (June, 2001).  Negative stereotypes about older adults may be beneficial to young adults was presented at the American Psychological Society Conference in Toronto, Ontario.
  • Pepper, S., Ewing, V., & Bromley, S.  (June, 2001).  The predictability of violence:  Sexual orientation matters was presented at the American Psychology Society Conference in Toronto, Ontario. 
  • Elison, J., & Ewing, V.  (June, 2001).  Gender differences in shame and coping styles was presented at the American Psychological Society Conference in Toronto, Ontario.
  • Ewing, V., Elison, J., Smith, R., & Pepper, S.  (April, 2001).  Conceptions of masculinity, femininity, the ideal male, and ideal female: Gender and ethnic differences was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Conference in Reno, Nevada.
  • Ewing, V., & Smith, R.  (April, 2001).  Negative stereotypes about older adults can be both beneficial and harmful was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Asssociation Conference in Reno, Nevada.
  • Ewing, V., Taylor, S., & Reece, J.  (February, 2001).  The portrayal of women's studies, gender studies, and cultural studies programs: A content analysis was presented at a conference entitled Women's Studies in Ruins?  Theory, Politics, Pedagogy in Greeley, Colorado.
  • Ewing, V., Stukas, A. A., & Sheehan, E. P. (February, 2000).  Attributional ambiguity and the gay instructor: Effects of lecture quality and instructor's sexual orientation on teaching evaluations was presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Ewing, V., & Earthman, M.  (April, 1999).  Students perceptions of undergraduate field work experience was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado.
  • Ewing, V., & Earthman, M.  (June, 1999).  Undergraduate internship experiences:  A program evaluation  was presented at the American Psychological Society Conference in Denver, Colorado.
  • Ewing, V.  (April, 1998).  Gender roles:  Ethnicity and gender as determinants was presented at the Western Psychological Association / Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Invited Presentations

  • Ewing, V. (April, 2008).  Differentiation in Practice: Utilizing Research in the Classroom.  Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Boise, ID.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2008).  Teaching New Teachers to Teach: First Year Mishaps and Common Mistakes of Beginning Teachers.  Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Boise, ID.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2008).  Teaching Students with Disabilities, Non - Traditional Students, and Students with Acquired Disabilities.  Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Boise, ID.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2008).  Counseling Topics within the GLBTQ Community: Lifespan Development—Stages and Processes. Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Boise, ID.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2007).  Classroom Teaching Techniques for Individuals with Disabilities.  Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2007).  Educational Approaches for the Creation of GLBT Supportive Classrooms.  Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2007).  The Bridge Between Basic Research and the Classroom. Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (February, 2007).  The Art of Assessment.  Knowledge Learning Corporation Conference.  Westminster, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (October, 2006).  Working with Gifted and Talented Students.  Gifted and Talented Education Conference.  Broomfield, CO.
  • Ewing,  V. (April, 2005).  Disability Panelist: Special Education as viewed by Parents, Teachers, and Students.  Groups Under - Represented: Disability Issues at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Phoenix, AZ.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2004).  Disability Panelist: Why students with disabilities are still discriminated against.  Groups Under - Represented:Disability Issues at Rocky Mountain Pswychological Association,Reno, NV.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2004).  A Place Where I Belong: GLBT Friendly Departments and Universities.  Panel moderator on Groups Under - Represented: GLBT Topics at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Reno, NV.
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2004). Creating a Sense of Community: Teaching Techniques and Strategies based on Class and University Size.  Invited Panelist on Psychology of Teaching Issues at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Reno, NV. 
  • Ewing, V. (April, 2003).  Disability and the Experience of Education.  Panel moderator on Groups Under - Represented: Disability Issues at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.
  • Ewing, V. (October, 2002).  Achievement Motivation.  Guest lecturer for one week of lectures for a Motivation junior level psychology course, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
  • Ewing, V.  (April, 2002).  An Historical Overview of Discrimination and Prejudice Against Disabled Students in Education.  Invited panel member on Groups Under - represented: Disability Issues at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Park City, Utah.
  • Ewing, V.  (April, 2002).  Being a Successful Graduate School Candidate and Student.  Invited panel member on undergraduate student issues at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Park City, Utah.
  • Ewing, V.  (April, 2002; June  2002).  Gender Inequity in Pay.  Invited presentation for Psychology of Women undergraduate and graduate students, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
  • Ewing, V.  (April, 2002).  Theories of Love and Attraction.  Invited presentation for Social Psychology students, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
  • Ewing, V.  (March, 2002).  The Social Psychology of Love and Hate.  Invited presentation for Introductory Psychology students, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
    Ewing, V. & Gonzales, D. (February, 2002).  Solutions to prejudice and discrimination on campus.  Invited presentation for continuing education and training to faculty and staff of student residence halls, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
  • Ewing, V.  (February, 2002).  Bi - polar Disorder: Characteristics, Experiences, and Treatments.  Invited presentation for Abnormal Psychology undergraduate students,  University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
  • Cochran, K., Ewing, V., Miramontes, L., & Opferman, M.  (May, 2001).  A history of the works and theories of Jerome Bruner.  Invited colloquium, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.

Service

Colorado State Board of Education

  • Committee Member, Gifted Education State Advisory Committee for Gifted Education (GE-SAC)
    2012 - 2015

UCCS

  • Committee Member, Early Childhood Education Undergraduate and Graduate Program Planning Committee
    2008 - present
  • Gifted and Talented Endorsement Committee Chair
    2007 - present

Community

  • Girl Scout Leader
    2007 - 2011
  • Spelling Bee Coordinator
    2007 - 2011
  • Cookie Sales Leader
    2008
  • MS Walk - School Team Leader
    May 2007; May 2008
  • Student Newspaper Lead Teacher
    2008 - present
  • Gifted and Talented After School Enrichment Teacher
    Fall 2005 - Spring 2006
  • Yearbook Club Volunteer Teacher
    Fall 2005 - Spring 2006
  • Middle School Events Coordinator
    Fall 2002 - Spring 2005
  • Middle School Administrative Council, staff representative
    Fall 2003 - Spring 2005
  • Eighth Grade Washington D.C. Field Trip Coordinator
    2004 - 2005
  • Volunteer Art Club Instructor
    2003
  • Middle School Newsletter Editor / Writer,
    2002 - 2005
  • Junior Achievement Volunteer Business Teacher
    Fall 2003