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| Gardening in the Minefield: A Survival Guide for School Administrators | 
 enlarge | Author: Laurel Schmidt
Publisher: Heinemann
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy New: $22.00
You Save: $1.00 (4%)
Buy New/Used from $22.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (6 reviews)
Sales Rank: 661346
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 216
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0325004765
Dewey Decimal Number: 372.12012
EAN: 9780325004761
ASIN: 0325004765
Publication Date: August 8, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
For anyone in school leadershipor anyone who hopes to bethis book is a must read. Seasoned educator Laurel Schmidt tells it like it is about a principal's daily life. From the nitty gritty of hiring, evaluating, and firing staff, to navigating the intricacies of school politics, and managing crises in the glare of the media, she provides a long overdue tool to take control of your life as a school administrator. Schmidt combines insight and humor with use-this-now practicality as she details creative strategies for surviving the daily grind, while honing your vision of a school that works. Follow her lead and learn how to:- plant the seeds for your vision and maintain your course
- weed out the worst, hire the best
- nurture productive relationships with parents, board members, and staff
- cultivate effective strategies for improving instruction
- root out efforts to undermine your leadership
- stamp out stress with simple techniques that work at work
- master the communication glut-email, voicemail, and the in-box.
Gardening in the Minefield offers a refreshingly candid map through the landscape of leadership. As Schmidt confirms, it is a garden out thereif you know where to step.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 A Book Every Professional Should Have January 17, 2008
Laurel Schmidt is a Renassaunce educator. She's taught, she's been a principal, and now has written three books designed to help teachers and administrators do the very best work they can do.
Ms Schmidt is also a consultant to the Muslim of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, having created their very successful educational program, Contemporary Art Start. She is also an educational consultant to the Guggenheim Museum in New Your City and has been invited to speak at conferences involving the four major museums in the city -- The Guggenheim, the Metropolitan, the Modern and the Whitney.
She also conducts seminars and trainings for teachers and administrators all over the United States and Canada and is recognized as one of the leaders in this field. Having met her and heard her speak, I can think of no one who cares more or works harder to ensure our children get the best education possible.
Keep this Nearby December 29, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Schmidt knows education and has lived and continues to live its many angles. In this book, she draws upon her own experiences as an administrator that resonate with all of us who have lived and live in those shoes. She tackles the tensions, describes with distance what we in the middle often do not see, and offers a perspective that can bring enlightenment at the end of tough day in the garden. Her humor and wit will bring a smile and the encouragement to go back to gardening the next day. A fun read for new, aspiring, and seasoned gardeners.
"Gardening in the Minefield: Don't leave home without it." November 26, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've been a public school administrator for the past 17 years. In addition I've mentored and taught new administrators. Over the years I've referenced "Gardening in the Minefields" more than any other source.
The information presented is on-target and practical. Ms. Schmidt has a knack for seeing the big picture and understanding the challenges that administrators in schools face every day. She does it with intelligence, practicality and humor.
Last week I presented a seminar for new principals at a local BOCES site. At the beginning of the presentation we played a little game to get everyone on task and to keep things light. I offered a prize to the participant who had the most correct in the contest...the prize? A copy of "Gardening in the Minefield!" You would have thought the winner had won the lottery!
Professional educators will love this book. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to keep ahead of the game and develop the kind of passion for children that the author clearly possesses.
Delightfully Insightful and Painfully True November 26, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I really found this book helpful. It provides insights into the inner workings of schools in a way you can't find elsewhere. She earned her stripes and has a lot of useful information for school administrators or anyone engaged in leadership in an educational setting. Really great, engrossing book I liked very much.
 Not informative - not good October 27, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought this book on a recommendation by the author's friend. It lacked the information that it claimed on the cover of dealing with. I was left with no new information, but a hole in my pocket. It is not good reading. The author is very very smug in her accounts of personal happenings. Everything that you would find online, is in this book and being online is basically FREE. Don't waste the time or money on this one.
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