Writing in the Stream

In this game, students form a team to compete against other teams to see who can graph lines or parabolas first:

Version 2.0: Has music and a new look. https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/graphclimber-7.html

Version 1.1 (allows students to join late and lets a teacher remove a student who leaves class early from the game): https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/graphclimber-3.html

Old version 1.0: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/graphclimber-2.html

I used Gemini and Claude to code it through many iterations/prompts (31 May 2026).

Important notes:

The teacher needs to log in with the teacher code first before asking students to join, otherwise the students will not show up. The teacher code is: xyz

If the teacher closes their tab or the teacher computer shuts down, the game might be over.

Ideas for further improvements: randomize the starting y-position of the students. Occasionally put in an x= equation, so that the students then have to move horizontally from their starting y position to get to the correct x position. Rename holding pen to be called waiting room, or lobby, or vestibule or something.

Shout out to Cat MacDonald for inspiring this game with a hands on rope game she made for her students to do something similar to this.

Caveat: this may have bugs in it. Do not use except experimentally.

Here is a random group generator (work in progress!) that lets you omit absent students but bring them back in if they arrive late, drag and drop names. If there is a student who cannot work with another student, you can specify that rule and still randomize the class as much as possible given that constraint.

Click to open the random group generator up in its own page:

https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/randomgroupgenerator.html

This is a game inspired by William Steig’s Five Lines game that he’d play with his kids. Now you can play it with your friends anywhere in the world!

Beta version: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/daily-squiggle-3.25.26-2.html (button to clearly show starting squiggles even after drawing is complete)

Version with color here!: https://writinginthestream.com/squiggle/

The goal is to use the random five squiggles as starting guidelines to draw a face. You can add as many lines as you’d like!

Then, if you’d like, you can share your creation with a friend and challenge them to make a face too! After they make their own, they can see yours!

If you have a favorite, you can vote for it. Check back another day for a new set of lines.

Transparency: I have been dreaming about making something like this for a long time. However, I didn’t have the coding chops to do it. Recently, I realized that Gemini does. So I used Gemini to help me code it, inspired by Alex Dobrenko. It’s really quite amazing what you can build now.

Older versions of the game:

3/13/26: The new version refreshes itself once daily to get the most recent update and autosaves mid-drawing before submitting. Also, it allows you to draw on top of the original random black squiggle lines and they still shine through.

3/11/26: Includes color!

2/21/26PM: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/daily-squiggle2-21-26-11-43.html

2/21/26: Making the random squiggles black instead of grey, and the user’s squiggles grey instead of black. Thanks to Steve Allen and Joe Allen for their suggestion. Thanks also to Steve for suggesting an undo button, a zoom feature (not yet implemented), and the ability to go to the review without resubmitting: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/daily-squiggle2-21-26-11-29.html

2/20/26PM: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/daily-squiggle2-20-26-12-04.html

2/20/26AM: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/daily-squiggle2-20-26.html

2/19/26: https://writinginthestream.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/daily-squiggle.html