Before you confine your dog in their crate, make sure they want to go in. Easy to do if you stuff a chewtoy and put it inside, with the dog stuck outside!
Training a dog to enjoy their crate is an easy way to get them to settle down for extended periods. Make sure you introduce the crate with lots of treats and some chewtoys to keep them busy.
Even if you only manage to teach your puppy/dog to sit on cue, you will have solved countless behavior problems. Sitting promptly and reliably whenever asked prevents your dog from performing a limitless list of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviors, because sitting and most problem behaviors are mutually exclusive, i.e., your dog cannot sit and misbehave at the same time. So, at least teach your dog to sit when requested.