I would love some suggestions for blogging sties that owrk well for middle school students as i would love to start a blog component to my class. 

Blogs and Wikis can be used in classes but must be monirotred, have thoughtful preperation, and thoughtful assessment.

I would love to incorporate some type of social media useage that would work with middle schoolers.  I've thought about blogs but am not sure where to start, any ideas?  Thanks

I have gotten ideas for handling issues online with students that can help me.

Sunchronous discussions should occur preferably with one student.  Asynchronous seesions encourage and generate better participation when questions are well crafted by the instructor.  Providing feedback with the asynchronous discussions to individual students is important and crafting a final sum up of the discussion by the instructor is a good plan to ahve.

It is important to make your presence known in the online classroom.  This lets students know that you are as invested in them as they are in the course.  Providing timely feedback and answers assures students that you are therer.  Provide office hours for live conversation and other communications.  Post bios of yourself and allow student to do so so that everyone gets to know each other and forms a bond.

In order to be an effective online teacher, you must know your CMS and how it works, have a time table for unlocking assignments, how to handle online discussion groups, how to access tech support, and so much more--being prepared is the key!

assessment should holistic and take into account student outcomes based on their prioir knowledge and critical thinking.  Giving standardized tests, while they be required, does not show how well students can apply their learning as the answers leave no room for creativity and problem-solving.

Creating ways for students to interact with each other is important.  Starting with the end in mind when planning a lesson is the besst.  You can develop activites that support student learning outcomes that allow them to showcase their learning.  a portfolio is a good way of assessing content knowledge because it allows studens to choose their best work for the final grading process.

Understanding how students learn and trying to accommodate those differences when presenting material is the most important aspect of constructing lessons that everyone can learn from and be able to be demonstrate student learning in multiple ways as well.