John, I'm happy to reply to your questions, but please send Moodle messages, rather than emails, in the future. (I've included your email text below.) First, you definitely should have contacted me immediately after the first forum closed and was scored. You failed that one, and continued to fail the next two over the next two weeks. Needless to say, you are in a VERY big hole at this point. In the Week 2 Forum, you missed the initial post deadline and only made 2 posts during the week. In the Week 3 Forum, you made only 2 posts for the week. So when you say that you are doing them on-time, that is not correct (for the Week 2 Forum). You failed to say whether or not you have read the How Forums are Graded instructions, and I can only assume that you have not. If each post can earn a maximum of 3 points, and you need to earn 8 points for the week, then 3 posts would be the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM that you would have had to make each week. So, that is a tremendous problem, especially given that there is NO LIMIT to the number of posts and replies that students can make each week. As for our last forum, the Week 4 Forum, you only made the MINIMUM 3 posts, but they did not earn "excellent" 3 point scores. All 3 together earned only 4 points, a 50% F grade. If you go back to the forum, you should be able to see how many points each of your comments earned. I've included your posts and replies below, complete with my comments that follow them. P.O.W by John Lilly - Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 7:08 PM I found it interesting how PBS didn’t show and didn’t differentiate how American POW’s were treated by North and South Vietnamese. I agree with what John McCain has to say in part 2 of the AIM video. I thought PBS could of talked more about the prisoners of war and the propaganda and manipulation that the Vietnamese used. I also agree with what Dan Cragg (Army Magazine) says in the AIM video about how PBS views American Solders as drug addicts, racists, and murderers, and I feel like that is the stereotype for solders during the Vietnam war. I always see pictures and videos of American solders smoking, doing drugs, getting prostitutes, and I feel PBS portrays solders this way. If I had to choose a program it would be AIM, but I don’t like how they focus so much on trying to prove PBS wrong, but besides that AIM is a source I would choose. Sum of ratings:2 This is a decent post, earning 2 points. You were on track and cited specific people/parts of the materials to help make your point. At LEAST 3 more posts of this caliber would "add up" to the 8 points you are after each week. Re: Siding with PBS by John Lilly - Sunday, October 25, 2015, 7:18 PM Robert, I also saw the same thing in the AIM video. I felt a big part of the AIM series was focusing on what PBS wasn't sharing or what they did wrong, But I also think AIM wanted to share hard facts and straight to the point information, where PBS did it in a way to make viewers interested. Also, I found it interesting how PBS didn't make Ho into the good guy like AIM was so intent on persuading the viewer that PBS made him into a hero when in fact that was false. Sum of ratings:1 This is one of this "Robert, I agree with you" type of replies that earns only a single point. Not much was added beyond what the other student had already said. These replies are not a problem unless they are the only kinds that you make during the week. Re: P.O.W by John Lilly - Sunday, October 25, 2015, 7:27 PM I completely agree with you Amanda, I feel like PBS could of done a better job of showing soldiers, and how many gave up their lives for their country. Although I'm sure PBS wasn't trying to focus on the fact that they were trying to portray soldiers in that way, but who knows what the goal of it was. Sum of ratings:1 Same type of reply as above. Together, these 3 posts add up to only 4 points. There was much more material and information that could have been discussed during the week that you could have done to earn more points. And an overall note applies. You posted only on Wednesday and Sunday. The forum directions are very specific about posting and replying THROUGHOUT the week, NOT just on deadline days. Again, you should go back and read the How Forums are Graded instructions. So, I hope this feedback helps you for the remaining forums in second half of this class (after the midterm). You emailed me 10/28 at 11:56am: Hi, my name is John Lilly and I am in your online history class of the Vietnam War. I was just wondering why i was getting such low scores on my discussions, I have been doing them on-time and posted multiple things. If there is any way I can improve or you could tell me what I’m doing wrong that would be awesome! Thank you!