Hi there,
Welcome to Field Notes from Refined Learning Design. Whether you’re back from last month or joining in for the first time, I’m glad you’re here. Happy 2026!
Each month, I share an idea I’ve been exploring and something that’s sparked reflection or shaped how I design professional learning. You’ll also find at least one resource recommendation, a quote I can’t stop thinking about, and a peek into what’s happening in my community of PL designers.
This newsletter is grounded in the values I carry into every project: from embracing lifelong learning to nurturing connections and building communities. (Discover my guiding principles here.)
This month’s field note explores how reflective practices help us intentionally design what comes next.
📓 Field Note: Designing Starts With Reflection
📍 Sparked by: Words of the year, bookmarked prompts, and reflecting in community
💡 Big idea: Many paths to meaningful reflection
There are many ways to reflect!
Designing a Reflective Practice
I’ve never been a New Year’s resolutions kind of person. But as educators, we encounter two beginnings each year (January and August/September), so as we step into 2026, I’m ready to reflect and think intentionally about the year ahead.
My journey as a reflective practitioner likely began in graduate school, where I completed a portfolio and aligned my work to professional standards. Later, when I joined the MTBoS (the math community on Twitter) in 2012, those connections pushed my practice even further and expanded how I thought about teaching and learning. Since then, reflection and metacognition have become core parts of how I learn, grow, and lead.
Rather than resolutions, I’m firmly in the word (or theme) of the year camp. I’ve kept a record of my yearly words since 2014, and some favorites include clarity, thrive, life is good, and sparkle. I also love creating a mix of small and big goals to revisit throughout the year.
This year’s theme is Design for Delight, and I’m intentionally inviting more whimsy and play into both my personal and professional life.
Over time, I’ve learned that a word alone isn’t enough. The themes that truly stick are the ones I align with specific actions. I now build in monthly check-ins, complete with repeating calendar reminders on the 26th, and I pair my word with a visual symbol. (This year’s symbol is the bubble emoji. 🫧)
Another reason this practice works so well for me is community. I’m incredibly grateful for the educators, now dear friends, who love to think about thinking. These EduFriends help me reflect more deeply, stay accountable, and grow as both a learner and a leader.
And if you’re reading this thinking, I haven’t done any of this yet, that’s completely okay. My goals are rarely finalized by January 1st, and this year is no exception. Mid-January (or even later!) reflection still counts. If you haven’t started yet, consider this a gentle invitation. Better yet, find a colleague or friend and go through the process together.
Ideas to Bookmark
Here are a few reflection and planning ideas I’ve found, explored, and bookmarked over the years.
Michael Bungay Stanier offers one of the most concise goal-setting prompts I’ve come across:
In 2026: More _________. Less ________.
Simple. Thoughtful. Brilliant.
Gretchen Rubin shares a powerful “trifecta” for designing the year ahead: a word of the year, a list of things to try (26 for 2026!), and a yearly challenge. This year’s challenge? Moving 26 minutes a day.
In 2014, I wrote about an idea from Teach Like a Pirate about creating a personal GPS. The idea is to define how you want students, teammates, or yourself to feel at the end of the year. While I didn’t map the actions clearly back then, I still love this reflection.
Priya Parker promotes the Year Compass, which helps process the past year before looking ahead. I used these prompts last year to refine my word of the year.
During my time in the Ness Labs community, I participated in a Year in Review exercise. Anne-Laure Le Cunff consistently shares thoughtful annual reflections, and this year she offered six excellent questions to prime the year ahead.
A friend shared an Instagram post with 12 creative reflection ideas, and last year I completed a “Rhyming Review,“ which was one of the most playful and memorable ways I’ve ever reflected on a year.
And while these reflection tools are meaningful on their own, the real magic for me happens when reflection becomes a shared experience.
One of my favorite parts of this process is reflecting with others. According to Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies framework, I’m an Obliger, which means outer accountability helps me follow through. Community makes all the difference.
Some of the ways I’ve reflected in community over the years:
Annual end-of-year reflection meetups with a former colleague (18 for 2018, 19 for 2019 - thank you, Julianna!)
College-age cousins who regularly check in on my word of the year
Hosting an annual Vision and Vibes gathering for my online community
A long-commute phone conversation sparked by completing Ness Labs’ reflection questions together (great talk, Darcy!)
Our December CoffeeEDU, where Erika designed beautiful past–present–future journaling prompts (with a little help from Gemini)
Each of these moments reminded me that reflection deepens when it’s shared.
I’d Love to Hear
Do you consider yourself a reflective practitioner?
Do you set resolutions, choose a word of the year, or create yearly goals?
I’m still in the middle of my own process, so I’d love to hear any prompts or practices that have worked for you.
Reply to this email, or share your reflections on social media and tag me. I always enjoy learning alongside you.
Noting, reflecting, connecting,
Kathryn
PS: I also write about starting professional learning experiences strong in this new blog post for Learning Forward Texas.
I see reflection as a whole-body process of transforming experience into meaning to shape the future.
Highlights from the Community
Here’s what’s happening in our community spaces this month:
January’s Mindful Musings prompts help us reflect and set the tone for the new year.
We’re sharing how and where we’re learning this winter in this new post.
Learn more about my online minicourse, Begin with Intention.
The Refined Design Learning Community is a space for curious, collaborative educators who design learning experiences for other adults. Our members are professional learning providers, educational coaches, PLC leads, admin, and aspiring PD leaders.
I use the Circle platform to host the community, and it’s free to join and participate. In our spaces, you’ll find thoughtful discussions, book clubs, and virtual meetups, which are open to all in the community. While I plan to offer paid courses in the future, nearly everything available now (except one minicourse) is completely free.
Reflecting • Connecting • Refining
📓 Why Field Notes?
This newsletter is inspired by the idea of self-anthropology from Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. Just like field notes help researchers make sense of what they observe, these monthly reflections help me capture ideas, tools, and questions from my own work designing professional learning. I share them here in the spirit of experimentation, connection, and ongoing refinement.
🤖 AI helped polish this post, but the ideas, intention, curation, and care are all mine.
