Seth Lebron Hall

I taught during the rise of Chromebooks in classrooms and it was a nightmare Kids cheating rampantly, Googling every single fact, refusing to read assuming that copy and pasting things from Wikipedia counted as an answer Students were regularly able to circumvent controls to watch porn, play video games, and watch movies or YouTube in class Students used shared Google Docs to gossip, bully each other, and plan crime (not joking) Everyone knew it was a disaster but the district refused to stop using them because “this is the future, kids need to learn computers”, plus massive amounts of funding were tied to them Mandatory testing was done on the computers and they were used for IEP accommodations so they were unavoidable Eventually, things got so bad that despite vigorous protests from parents and administrators, I went almost entirely analog, requiring students only use paper and textbook except for state mandated tests That worked really well until COVID, where remote learning once again became mandatory Even after the return to classrooms administration required everything be accessible online at all times, so there was no longer any option to stop the digital distractions A true nightmare for teachers and a system that has radically failed students

After today’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the iconic Kenenisa Bekele is no longer a world record holder in any track event. Here’s how long his records lasted: Men’s Indoor 2 Mile – 7 years and 5 days until Mo Farah broke it in 8:03.40 at the Birmingham Grand Prix in Feb. 2015 Men’s 5000m – 16 years, 2 months, and 15 days until Joshua Cheptegei broke it in 12:35.36 at the Monaco Diamond League in Aug. 2020 Men’s 10,000m – 15 years, 1 month, and 11 days until Joshua Cheptegei broke it in 26:11.00 at the NN World Record Day in Valencia in Oct. 2020 Men’s Indoor 5000m – 20 years, 11 months, and 25 days until Grant Fisher broke it in 12:44.09 at Boston University last February. Men’s Indoor 2000m – 18 years, 11 months, and 7 days until Hobbs Kessler broke it in 4:48.79 at the 2026 NB Indoor Grand Prix. Records are temporary. Gold medals are forever. 🥇

🚨 Research shows repeated complaining physically rewires your brain to prioritize stress and negativity. The way we speak about our daily challenges does more than just vent frustration; it physically alters the architecture of the brain. When we engage in chronic complaining, we repeatedly activate neural networks responsible for detecting threats and processing stress. Through the biological process of neuroplasticity, these circuits become stronger and more efficient every time they are used. Essentially, the brain learns to become more adept at finding things to be unhappy about, turning a temporary mood into a permanent biological predisposition toward negativity and fear-based thinking. As these negative pathways become the brain's default setting, individuals often experience a measurable increase in baseline stress levels and emotional volatility. This heightened sensitivity means that even minor inconveniences can trigger an intense stress response because the brain has been conditioned to interpret the world through a lens of threat. Findings discussed by the Stanford University School of Medicine emphasize that while this mechanism is powerful, understanding the science of affective neuroscience is the first step in consciously redirecting those pathways toward more resilient emotional patterns. Source: Stanford University School of Medicine. (2023). Neural Plasticity and the Impact of Negative Thought Patterns on Emotional Regulation. Stanford Medicine News.

I can’t stop thinking about this piece of advice a friend once told me: “Don’t stay up late for something you wouldn’t wake up early for.”