You not only have to be thoroughly knowledgeable in the subject you’re handling, but you also need to know how to control a class and maintain discipline and order in it. In short, to be a good teacher, you also need the following classroom management skills.

5 classroom management skills every teacher must have

1. Authority

Some teachers command authority through the way they look – their very appearance makes students give them the respect they deserve. Others invite sniggers and giggles because they look frumpy and are dressed badly. In order to be taken seriously by your class, you must be presentable and have an authoritative air about you. When you’re sure of yourself and adopt a positive attitude, it becomes easy to command authority just by the way you look.

2. Knowledge

There’s no use looking the part without knowing what it’s all about, so when you set out to be a teacher, ensure that you know your subject thoroughly. It’s not just enough to be prepared for each class; if you want to be taken seriously by your students and earn their respect, you must be thoroughly knowledgeable in your subject and know more than a little in most others as well. In short, you need to be a jack of all subjects and a master of one in order to impress and command.

3. Individualization

Good teachers know how to tailor their lessons based on the students they teach – a class of achievers would be bored to death with simplified explanations while one with average students would find difficult theories hard to comprehend unless they’re brought down to their level of understanding. Most classes are a mix of average and brilliant students, so it’s best to prepare lessons that cater to the average student. As a teacher who wants to manage your class effectively, you must know how to assess each class you handle and customize your lessons accordingly.

4. Time-management

The best teachers I’ve had are those who made a class both entertaining and educative – they were able to teach me about the subject and make the class entertaining as well. When a class is interesting, there’s no difficulty in managing its students. It’s only when they get bored and listless that they start to act up and behave badly. Good teachers know how to manage the time in their classes so that their students don’t realize its passage or keep watching the clock.

5. Patience

And finally, teachers who manage their classrooms well have immense patience. They don’t lose their cool when their students start acting up; they don’t shout and yell for any reason, and they don’t lose control of the situation at any point in time. It takes a great deal of patience to cope with a classroom full of students, some of who are bent on causing trouble with their mischievous antics. However, if you manage to adopt a cool attitude and show no frustration, it’s easy to regain control and continue with the lesson.