Proofread Your Deck: Five Faults to Catch Before Class

“I can't get past this bit” can mean several different things. The answer might be wrong, the question might be unfair, or the key might be on the other side of its own lock.

Before class, proofread the route as well as the words. Here is a pond-survey deck with five faults to find. Each fault has a different symptom, so each needs a different repair.

The intended route is Welcome → Survey → Check → Explain → Gate → Finish. The Survey slide contains this table:

Fault 1: the introduction is stranded

Symptom: the student starts at Survey. Welcome is on the map, but its instructions have been skipped.

Repair: set the entry path to Welcome and connect it to Survey. Use this Signpost text: “Read the survey table. Answer the lock question, explain one comparison, collect the key, then reach Finish.” The Paths and Activities guide describes starting with a Signpost and setting the entry path.

Retry: start through Preview Deck, rather than opening Survey directly. The first instruction should now be the welcome message.

Fault 2: a correct answer is rejected

Symptom: Check asks, “Which group had the most sightings?” Its Text Lock accepts only snails. A student who types beetles has read the table correctly but cannot proceed: both counts are six.

Repair: make the retrieval question precise: “Which group had four sightings? Type the group name shown in the table.” Set the Text Lock answer to frogs.

Alternatively, keep the original question and accept both valid answers. The Lock Guide documents separating alternative text answers with |, so the configuration would be snails | beetles. Decide which question you actually want before changing the key.

Retry: answer from the visible table, without looking at your configured answer first. For the revised question, four points to frogs alone.

Fault 3: the question refers to nothing

Symptom: Explain says, “Use the chart above to explain whether snails and beetles were seen equally often.” There is no chart on that slide. The question is intact; its evidence is missing.

Repair: put the three-row survey table on Explain and replace “chart above” with an exact instruction: “Were snails and beetles recorded equally often? Use both counts in one sentence.” Add a Text App for the response.

Teacher key: “Yes. There were six recorded sightings of snails and six of beetles.” Accept other wording that includes the equal counts. A Text App collects a free-form answer; progressing past it does not certify the explanation as correct. Our Text App and Lock App comparison explains that distinction.

Retry: read the table and submit that sentence on the smallest screen your class will use. Check that the counts and response control are readable together.

Fault 4: the key is beyond its own gate

Symptom: Gate has a Treasure Key Lock requiring Key ID POND. The only matching Treasure Key App is on the Finish slide, after Gate. No amount of answering can solve that route.

Repair: move that Treasure Key App to Explain, before Gate, and keep POND as the matching Key ID on both. Add “Collect the key before continuing” to Explain. The Lock Guide describes the matching-ID requirement.

Retry: collect the key on Explain, then use it at Gate. Check its location as well as its ID; matching text cannot repair an unreachable key.

Fault 5: “Well done” leaves the next action open

Symptom: Finish says only “Well done!” Students cannot tell whether to wait, repeat an activity or start another task.

Repair: use a final Signpost: “You have finished this deck. Be ready to share your sentence comparing the snail and beetle counts.” The explanation has already been submitted at Explain; this is the stopping instruction.

Retry: reach Finish through the complete corrected route. Read its instruction without supplying an extra spoken explanation.

Keep a record of the first failure

Download the one-page deck inspection sheet (PDF). It has space for the expected start, route, accepted answers, evidence, key location and finish instruction, followed by a repair-and-retry record.

For a branching deck, trace every offered route. At a merge, check the Activity Entry Lock's Activities requirement: the published Lock Guide describes “at least 1” for either incoming path and “at least 2” when both are required. Choose the requirement that matches your lesson, then complete that combination in the check.

Do not mark a repair finished because it looks right in the builder. Record what happened when you retried the student's next action.