They're Gr-r-reat

Maybe it's because I spent three years under the Imagine 2014 plan where 'Great Staff' was one of the strategic goals.  Or possibly because I keep reading about 'great teachers' from the Gates Foundation.  But, boy am I tired of of my chosen profession being described with one of the least meaningful words the english language has to offer. Perhaps I should forward them a thesaurus.I attended the New York Times Schools for Tomorrow conference last week and I also heard references that were equally as pablum-esque to describe the job.  If you want to describe the type of teachers we need the list should be long, complex and involved.  We can do better, much better at finding the appropriate words to describe the job that so many are hoping will 'save' the US economy.  Let's have a real conversation about effective teaching.  Let's describe the people that work with America's youth day in and day out as dedicated, clever, creative.  Perhaps the words tenacious, persistent, dogged, relevant. Anything but the 'meh' word that most notably describes sugary cereal.