How to Host a Party

Written by Maryellen Berry, director of professional growth and learning

With a title like this, I imagine you anticipate a list of 15 tips curated from various Pinterest pages or from renowned hosts like Joanna Gaines, Martha Stewart, or even Meghan Markle! You won’t find that in this post. In fact, hosting parties makes me anxious and self-critical. I encourage you to keep reading, even if this post doesn’t provide fodder for your next dinner party.

The angst toward entertaining says more about me than it does about anything else. I have read the articles, viewed the tablescapes, envisioned the gastronomic bites, and learned all I could to create something beautiful and memorable. Still, the idea of hosting looms as I contemplate the quintessential event. In a quick Google search, one finds advice for party preparations that include everything from a clean space to securing a theme. And then the next section of content reflects what to do at the party. Note that none of the bullet points point to fretting or focus on self:

Set the mood: Use music and lighting to create a welcoming and fun atmosphere. 
Welcome guests: Greet each guest as they arrive to make them feel at the beginning of the party. 
Manage the flow: Circulate to check in with guests, and have fun activities or entertainment available. 
Be a gracious host: Let the party flow naturally and don’t stress too much about controlling every detail. Make sure there are enough supplies and that guests are comfortable. 

I learned that hosting a party is about hospitality – preparations for the guests, welcoming those invited, and attending to the needs of the people present. I wonder how learning might be impacted, if we thought more about the hospitality of our classrooms and a little less about the materials, the content, and the procedures. While all of these elements have their place and significance, I think that they can potentially miss the point if not coupled with hospitality.

In his book On Christian Teaching, David I. Smith shares the following, “A pedagogy can include or exclude, can be hospitable or inhospitable, can energize or deaden. We should step away from seeing teaching as a set of techniques, as something done to students by a teacher. When we teach, when we design learning, we offer a temporary home in which students will live for a while, and we shape the patterns of life together within which they will grow. A pedagogy is a home in which teachers and students can live together for a while, a place where students are welcomed as guests and in which they can grow.”

How might we set the mood, welcome guests, manage the flow, and be a gracious host in our classrooms – a temporary home – so that we can include, be hospitable, and energize?