Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom

Bringing stories to life, one tale at a time!
@allthingsclsrm

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

It’s been over 50 years since humans went to the Moon.

And now… we’re going back.

But here’s the shift:
Kids aren’t just reading about it in textbooks.
They’re tracking it live.

This isn’t “teaching space.”

This is learning in real time.

That’s the kind of classroom I believe in. @AllThingsClsrm

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

@boardyai building @AllThingsClsrm , A lab for rethinking how classrooms work - want in on Boardy Pro

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

Most summers for kids look like this:

Wake up. TV. Lunch. Screen. Dinner. Sleep.
Repeat for 8 weeks.

NYsKOOL Smart Summer Camp is the alternative.

Real projects. Real skills. Real fun.
Barcelona · Lisbon · Online 🌍

Ages 6–13 ·
Limited spots 👇
https://t.co/lgeUpg0MN3

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

Every parent asks the same question about screens:

"How much is too much?"

After years of designing learning environments
for kids - I think that's the wrong question.

The right one is much simpler.

🧵 Here's what I've learned:
https://t.co/ogcgHgQwvE

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

I asked my student what's good about animal testing.

She said: "Nada. Nothing."

Then she argued - clearly, logically, confidently - for why humans could volunteer instead.

She's a child.
This is an Ethics class.
This is what school can look like. 🎙️

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

A student just taught me how to play Minecraft.

And he's more confident on the mic than most adults.

This is what happens when you give kids a platform. 🎙️

↓ NYsKOOL KidCast Episode 1

@AllThingsClsrm

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

@shreyaskoushik The line that stayed with me from the whole video: ‘Efficiency and learning are not the same thing.’ Schools are optimised for throughput, but real life rewards adaptability, confidence, and decision-making. Powerful conversation!

[Shreyas Koushik | K-12 EdTech @shreyaskoushik]

Most high-achieving students feel like nobodies the moment they graduate!

Not because they weren't smart. Not because they didn't work hard.

But because school optimized them for one thing: moving through a system efficiently.

And efficiency, it turns out, is not the same as learning.

I had one of the most honest education conversations I've had in a long time with @AaronSitze , Head of Learning and Experience at @synthesischool , alongside @TomoClub_edu co-founder @avinash_dtu .

A few things Aaron said that are worth thinking about:
👉🏻 Struggle is not a bug in learning. It's the whole point. When we remove frustration from the classroom, we remove the very mechanism that builds real capability.
👉🏻 Students are almost always more capable than the system gives them credit for. We've just built a system that never asks them to prove it.
👉🏻 Game-based learning works not because it's fun, but because it creates genuine emotional stakes. That's what traditional instruction rarely does.

And the AI point? It's the one that stayed with me the most.

Aaron draws a sharp line between AI making learning easier and AI making learning feel easier.

Those are not the same thing. And most of us in EdTech are not asking that question nearly enough.

This is a 60-minute conversation, and it earns every minute.

Give it a listen if you work in education, build learning products, or you're a parent wondering whether school is actually preparing your kid for anything beyond the next test.

Link in the comments!

So here's the question I'll leave you with:
If schools stopped measuring what's easy to measure, what would they actually be accountable for?

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

@AllThingsClsrm Read more here: https://t.co/RG78KaP9fz

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

You're on a game show. 3 doors. 1 prize. You pick Door 1. The host opens Door 3 - it's a goat. He asks: "Switch to Door 2 or stay with Door 1?" What do you do? 99% of people get this wrong. 🧵
@AllThingsClsrm

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

The Monty Hall Problem teaches us something deeper than probability. It teaches us that our intuition - however confident - can be spectacularly wrong. And that's exactly why we need mathematics.

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

Want to know who figured this out faster than most humans? Pigeons. In a study, pigeons learned to always switch after a few tries. Most humans - even after playing many times - still didn't switch consistently. The birds won. 🐦

[All Things Classroom @AllThingsClsrm]

Most students think math is boring. Here's a story that will change that forever. A dying man. A taxi. One number. 🧵

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

1729 is also:
✓ A Harshad number (discovered by Indian mathematician D.R. Kaprekar)
✓ The point in the decimal expansion of e where ALL ten digits appear consecutively for the first time
✓ A Carmichael number

One number. Infinite stories.

What's YOUR favourite math fact? Drop it below 👇

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

A mathematician lies dying in a London hospital. His friend arrives in taxi number 1729. "Dull number," says the friend. The dying man smiles. "No. It is a VERY interesting number." What followed is one of the most beautiful moments in mathematics. 🧵 @AllThingsClsrm

[Varchas Koushik | All Things Classroom @storyteller_guy]

One more thing about Ramanujan that most people don't know. He said his family goddess - Namagiri Thayar of Namakkal, Tamil Nadu - appeared in his dreams and gave him mathematical inspiration. A divine mind. Guided by devotion. 🙏