I was looking forward to this resource as I struggled to write a new HSIE History unit on ancient cultures. Unfortunately this unit has a lot of repetition in the slides and multiple errors.. As slides are able to be edited, I have spent a significant amount of time fixing the errors before presenting to students. I will be requesting a refund or credit note.
Good morning,
Thank you for your feedback. I genuinely appreciate the time and effort it takes to provide detailed feedback, particularly during report writing season.
As these units are created for teachers across the entire state of NSW, I try to accommodate a wide range of classroom needs and teaching preferences. Prior to developing these units, I conducted a survey of NSW teachers, and 85% of respondents requested a dedicated vocabulary section (which is the repetition of slides you mention). For that reason, I have chosen to include it for those who find it valuable. Especially given that there are many schools who have a strong focus on the explicit teaching of vocabulary and building strong background knowledge of the topic prior to teaching. It is generally easier for teachers to remove a component they do not need than to create and add it themselves.
As mentioned in my previous email to you:
I've just reviewed the lesson against the Department of Education sample unit written by the curriculum writing team, and the content appears to match exactly. You mentioned errors in lesson 4 and that the subject of “The Pyramid of Giza” has been printed onto slides about the Parthenon. The only reference I can currently find on the Pyramid of Giza is in the Check for Understanding section, which is written in the Department's sample unit.
The Check for Understanding section at the beginning of each lesson is a deliberate and important component of the Department of Education's sample unit design. It is included so that teachers can informally assess whether students have retained and understood the learning from previous lessons before moving on to new content. This allows teachers to make informed decisions about whether students are ready to progress to the next concept or whether additional revision, clarification, or reteaching is needed to address any misunderstandings before introducing new learning. This is why you are seeing the Pyramid of Giza at the beginning of lesson 4, because you are checking whether your students have a solid understanding of what they learnt in lesson 3 before moving on to new learning of Parthenon.
Because I am not seeing the same issue from my end, I would really appreciate seeing the screenshots so I can investigate further and make sure I haven't overlooked anything.
Could you also let me know whether you are viewing the slides in PowerPoint or Google Slides? Occasionally formatting or display issues can occur between platforms (more information can be found on my recent blog post that I wrote on this issue), so that information would be helpful as I troubleshoot.
Thank you again for bringing this to my attention. I genuinely appreciate the feedback and want to ensure that I address any issues promptly. If there is something I have missed, I will absolutely correct it as quickly as possible.
I look forward to hearing from you when you get a chance. Thank you :)
Love this resource, looking forward to purchasing more from the busy honey bee.
I am just disapoointed that there was only 4 lessons and we are now up to week 6.
Love the lessons though
I’m sorry that you’re disappointed about the resource only being 4 lessons.
Please review the product description, which says that it is only 4 lessons long with no set date of completion. The product thumbnails and previews also have this information.
I’m really trying my best to keep up with the roll out, but the workload is extensive. There are 63 units rolled out over each term - for k-6.
This is why I specifically state that there is no set date of completion, because I do not want to make promises that I can’t keep and I want every teacher who is purchasing it to know that I cannot say exactly when it will be completed. It's at the purchaser's own discretion if they would like to still purchase, knowing that there is no guarantee the lessons they need will be completed in the timeframe they are working at.
My inclusive education class love the workbooks activities after our hands on manipulative lessons.
