I do not monitor who you send information to or what you say, so feel free to do whatever meets your needs on this one. Chat is a chat room. If people want to talk directly to each other, this facility enables that. If requrested to do so, it may be possible for me to talk live with students at particular times using this facility, though I do not anticipate doing this. I am aware that students often form study groups using this facility though I wonder how much other stuff they talk about when in these chat rooms.
Discussion forums is a complete list of the forums for each chapter.
If you want to follow a person s comments across the various chapters, this is the place to do it. My grades is exactly that access to my grade sheet. You can and should monitor your progress in the class. Importantly, you and I are the only people who can identify your grades, though you will be able to compare your progress with that of others in the class. My progress tells you what you have and have not done a lot of in the course.