Professional Development Workshop
How to position, describe, and sell the Algebra Studio PD workshop. This is genuine professional development on structuring hands-on, collaborative learning — not product training. That distinction is the sale.
PD comes up in two contexts: either they want it (they're already interested in Math Labs and want to know how teachers get trained) or they're worried about it (they're concerned teachers can't run this without extensive support). The answer is different depending on which it is. If they want it, describe the workshop. If they're worried about it, lead with the teaching portal — show them the product is designed to be run without PD, and position the workshop as an accelerant, not a requirement.
Teachers experience a Math Lab as learners, then unpack it as practitioners
A nationally recognized math educator leads teachers through a complete Math Lab session — the same activity their students will do. Teachers work in teams, use the physical materials, and engage with the math the way learners do. Then the facilitator leads a structured debrief: how to launch a session, when to let teams struggle, when to intervene, how to facilitate the closing discussion. It's professional development on structuring hands-on, collaborative learning — useful regardless of what curriculum the school uses.
This is a completely different thing from product training, and it needs to be communicated that way. The workshop is about teaching practice. The Math Lab is the vehicle. Teachers leave with both the professional knowledge and the practical confidence to run the lab in their own classroom Monday morning.
Experience
Teachers play through a Math Lab session as learners, working in collaborative teams
Unpack
Facilitator-led debrief of teaching moves — launching, pacing, facilitating struggle, closing
Transfer
Teachers plan implementation for their own classrooms — grouping, differentiation, assessment
Nationally Recognized Workshop Leaders
Algebra Studio PD workshops are led by practicing math educators with genuine field credibility — the kind of people whose names show up on PAEMST lists, who lead sessions at NCTM and state conferences, and who still teach students every day. They are not sales trainers. They are not employees of 10story Learning. They are nationally recognized practitioners who believe in this approach because it aligns with how they already teach.
The facilitator profile matters to buyers. Curriculum coordinators and principals are pattern-matching against the PD they've seen before: vendor reps walking through slide decks. When you say "a PAEMST-winning educator who teaches at a PBL school in Austin will lead your teachers through the lab," that is a categorically different sentence. It signals investment, seriousness, and independence.
What to share about the facilitator
You won't have a specific name at the point of sale — the facilitator is matched to the workshop after booking. But you can and should describe the profile: Presidential Award–level practitioners, active classroom teachers, experienced PD facilitators with national reach. If helpful, you can say that facilitators come from organizations like the Knowles Teacher Initiative, state PAEMST networks, and leading PBL schools. The goal is to communicate that these are not staff members reading a script — they're recognized educators who bring their own credibility to the room.
Positioning the workshop
"We offer a half-day professional development workshop led by a nationally recognized math educator. Teachers experience a Math Lab session as learners and then unpack the teaching moves with the facilitator. $3,995 for up to 30 teachers, and it's fundable through Title II-A as a separate line item from the kits."
Don't say "training" — that implies the product is complicated enough to require instruction. "Professional development" implies the product is a vehicle for deepening teaching practice. The second framing is true and more valuable.
When they're worried about implementation
"The teaching portal is designed so any teacher can run Math Labs without prior training — slides advance the session, the timer keeps pacing, and Howie's video walkthroughs demonstrate every activity. The PD workshop is an option for schools that want deeper teacher investment. It's an accelerant, not a prerequisite."
Don't say "no training required" — that disrespects the complexity of teaching. Say the portal handles the session flow so teachers can focus on facilitation. The distinction matters: easy to implement ≠ trivially simple.
Describing the facilitator
"The workshop is led by a nationally recognized math educator — a Presidential Award–level practitioner who still teaches students and leads PD at the national level. They're not on our staff. They're independent educators with genuine field credibility."
Don't say "certified trainer" or "Algebra Studio facilitator" — those sound like someone who took a two-day certification course. The whole point is that these are people with independent reputations. Lead with their credentials, not their affiliation.
PD Workshop
- Led by a nationally recognized math educator (PAEMST-level)
- Teachers experience a full Math Lab session as learners
- Facilitator-led debrief on teaching moves and facilitation
- Implementation planning for classroom use
- Fundable through Title II-A as a separate line item from kits
- Travel included for continental U.S.
Funding angle
The PD workshop is a separate line item from the kit purchase. This matters because it means professional development doesn't compete with the kit budget. Kits are typically funded through curriculum/instructional materials budgets or Title IV-A. The workshop is fundable through Title II-A (professional development). Pointing this out early removes a common objection — "we can't afford kits AND training" — because they're funded from different buckets.
Show them
If they're worried about implementation: show the teaching portal. Click through the slides, play a Howie walkthrough video. Demonstrate that the product is self-contained before you ever mention PD. Then position the workshop as an upgrade for schools that want deeper investment.
When to bring it up
Don't lead with PD unless they ask. The teaching portal is the primary implementation story — it's free, it's built in, and it handles the hard parts. Bring up the workshop when: (a) they explicitly ask about professional development, (b) you sense implementation anxiety and the teaching portal demo hasn't fully resolved it, or (c) you're working a deal large enough that a PD add-on feels natural ($5K+ in kits). For large district deals (50+ kits), the workshop is almost always part of the conversation — mention it proactively.
Title II-A tip
If the buyer mentions budget constraints, this is your moment: "The workshop is $3,995 and it's fundable through Title II-A — that's a completely separate budget from instructional materials. So it doesn't compete with the kit purchase. A lot of our schools fund kits through Title IV-A or curriculum budgets and fund the PD workshop through Title II-A." That one sentence often changes the math on the deal.
Use this when a coordinator asks "what do my teachers actually get?"
Teachers leave the workshop having experienced the math themselves — not watched a demo, not read a guide, but worked through a lab session the way their students will. They've unpacked the key facilitation decisions with a practitioner who has spent their career thinking about this: when to let struggle happen, when to redirect, how to launch a session so every team knows what to do, how to lead a debrief that surfaces the mathematical ideas. They also leave with practical classroom-ready plans: grouping strategies, pacing adjustments, differentiation approaches, and the confidence that comes from having done it once with expert guidance before asking 30 kids to do it.
The coordinator's real question underneath this is usually: "Will my teachers actually be able to do this?" The answer is yes — the teaching portal handles it even without PD. The workshop is what makes them excited to do it.