Article: Respect your students, and demand the same respect from them. Clearly lay out your rules for classroom behavior, and enforce them consistently. Don’t shout or lose your cool—remain calm and collected, and be clear on what needs to happen. When necessary, involve the school administration for serious discipline issues. Your job isn’t to be your students’ friend or the most-liked teacher. You are a mentor who is there to impart knowledge and model professional behavior. Remember that, as a professional teacher, you are offering a service to the students and the school community. You are duty-bound to take your "in loco parentis" role seriously. Explain why certain rules are in place and follow all institutional risk management procedures. Whether you’re teaching a gym class or in the chemistry lab, clearly lay out the safety rules and hold everyone to them at all times. Don’t waver in a misguided attempt to appear more likeable or “cool.” Constantly provide benchmarks for improvement for your students. Give praise when it is due, and compassionate yet constructive feedback when it’s needed. Encourage and support those who are in need of help, and find creative ways to assist them to improve their grades. Create an environment in which everyone (including you) is expected to do their best, is praised when they do so, and is supported when they fall short of excellence. Make sure your lessons, notes, and handouts are professionally presented—that is, neat, clear, easy-to-follow, and without simple errors or typos. Take a moment to consider how you’d grade your own efforts—if they’d be anything other than passing with flying colors, increase your effort. A professional teacher should never feel like they ought to re-do a piece of work because its presentation is shoddy. In the end, it’s up to your students to put in the work and effort to get their best grades. As a professional teacher, though, you should accept that the grades your students achieve are, at least in part, a reflection on you. Accept that there is room for improvement on both sides—the students’ and yours. Don’t just throw up your hands and say that a student’s poor grades are because they’re lazy or don’t care about the material. Take it as a personal challenge to find ways to engage them in the subject. Good teachers make it easy to understand complicated things. Use examples, models, pictures, hands-on activities, real-life connections, and so on. Find ways for your students to relate to the material.  However, “simple” doesn’t mean “too easy” or “created without care.” Whittling down complex topics into simpler lessons is a challenge that takes time and effort to master. Pick the brains of fellow teachers who you respect for their ability to bring focus and simplicity to their teaching. You shouldn’t expect your students to be excited about learning something if you don’t seem excited to be teaching it. Let your passion shine through in the classroom, and some of it will rub off on your students. With this enthusiasm, explain to your students why the knowledge you convey is important, and how they can apply what they learn in their daily lives. Then they are more likely to remember what you teach.

What is a summary?
Take charge of your classroom. Put safety first. Make excellence your goal. Take pride in the process and products of your teaching. Take responsibility for your student's results. Simplify your lessons to focus on the key components. Keep your students’ attention through enthusiasm and self-awareness.