https://teacher.desmos.com/carnival/walkthrough#cannonman
This is so cool! It's like graphing stories, but the interactivity really helps hone in on kids' misconceptions around graphing. All those things about graphs just being pictures, about understanding what makes a function (beyond the vertical line test...), etc. are captured in the well-chosen scenarios.
I talk a lot of smack about blended learning or personalized learning or whatever they're calling it these days, but I am in no way opposed to technology use in the classroom. The Function Carnival is a great example of technology usage because it provides something that pencil and paper can't. Sure, it's probably engaging to a kid because it's on the computer and it has fun animation, but technology purely for engagement's sake is not enough. This technology also doesn't just feel like a way for teachers to measure some percentage of material learned. Those things are fine, but not really enough (at least for me). But this tool helps kids deepen their understanding of function from very different perspective. That is what technology should do--it should enhance teaching, not replace it.
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