Set up your Grade Book first. Just trust me on this one thing and set up a calculation method, and know that all the other options can be edited.

Discussions are a new tool to let your class have an online discussion. You can start the conversation and see all the back and forth as it happens.  Here is what Blackbaud has to say about using the new feature:

Faculty users can create graded discussion assignments for students to participate in. Faculty can add discussions from:

• Faculty > My Day > Assignment Center.
  or
• Faculty > Classes > Assignments > Add Discussion.

For each discussion, teachers can enter details and select options.

To participate, student users click the discussion title and enter a new response. Students can embed links within their answers, and attach up to three files (if the faculty member enabled the attachments option).

More detailed steps and functions that teachers can access:

From the Discussion detail page, faculty users can filter comments by students, enter grades, and enter comments.

• Discussions can be added through two different means, either through the Assignment Center screen from Faculty> My Day > Assignment Center or through Faculty > Classes> Assignments by clicking the Add Discussion button. This will then open a modal where teachers can enter details and set options such as the discussion title, whether or not to allow attachments and whether or not to allow comments to be shown to students.
• From the Discussion detail page, Faculty users are able to hide questionable posts, add comments, and filter comments by students in addition to being able to apply a grade.
• Student users can participate by clicking on the discussion title which will allow them to add a new response, embed a link within their answer, and attach up to three files if the faculty member has enabled the attachments option.