Writing for Proficiency with Georgie Ziff
 English 3000 is a course to help you meet the
University Writing Skills Requirement.
 You must submit a Final Course Portfolio to the
Testing Office the last week of the quarter that
consists of your writing work from the class.
 Who needs this class? Students who took the Writing
Skills Test and scored 6 or below, or students who
choose to take this class as an alternative to the WST
 You must pay the Portfolio Evaluation fee
to the Testing Office to have
your portfolio evaluated.
• A Scoring Rubric is available in
Blackboard in the course.
 Reading Critically, Writing Well -
9th edition by Axelrod, Cooper and
Warriner - ISBN 978-0312-67685-8
 Available at the reference desk
in the library for two hour use
 You’ll need the Video Central access code
that comes with the text at the bookstore.
 If you buy the book online, you must buy
the code separately at this link.
 On the publisher’s website, click on Video
Central English in the right column to buy.
 Assignments are in the Weekly Schedule folder
 You will read an article, watch a video, and a
power point about writing topics, then write 3
paragraphs answering the following questions :
1) What are the main points of the article,
video, and power points?
2) How effective were they in terms of
audience and purpose?
3) How does this information influence
your understand of academic writing?
 Weekly assignments are due by Friday 5 pm to
receive 5 points; 3 pts the 2nd week, then 1 pt.
 Write your responses in the dialog box
 DO NOT use file attachments for assignment
responses; attachments are only for essays
Click here to download and view the video
“How to Submit Assignments”.
 To break the ice and get to
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know your classmates, you will
participate in the weekly
Discussion Boards about:
being an online student
your writing process
your academic habits
readings in the textbook
NOTE: you must post to the
Board by Wed. midnight, and
then respond to TWO
classmates by Friday 5pm to
get the full 6 points of credit –
then it closes.
 The Testing Office Portfolio evaluation will result in
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one of three assessments:
Clear Competence (CC): You have fulfilled the
University Writing Skills Requirement, and no
additional writing courses are needed.
Developing Competence (DC): You may move
on to a second-tier writing course, e.g. ENGL
3003 to fulfill the University Writing Skills
requirement.
Limited Competence (LC): You must retake
English 3000 with a different instructor to create
an entirely new Portfolio for evaluation.
It is possible to receive credit for ENGL 3000 and
NOT receive a Developing or Clear
Competence score on the portfolio.
Evaluations are final and cannot be appealed.
 Cover sheet with your name, your teacher's name,
your course and section number.
 Table of contents: lists the items in the portfolio,
in this order. Please note that this is important.
 Questionnaire: This will be provided in the course
and will include your identification information.
 Reflective introduction essay and Turnitin Originality
Report - essay that introduces the portfolio and
argues that you should pass either this class or the WST
 Position Essay - 3 drafts: click for guidelines.
and Turnitin Originality Report - 10% similarity or less
 Three Timed Essays - certified copies that you wrote
online within the time limit with the earliest first
 Compare/Contrast Essay -3 drafts - guidelines
and Turnitin Originality Report -10% similarity or less
You will have one hour and fifty minutes to write a complete
thesis-driven essay in response to a prompt.
SAVE your timed essay document with your name:
YOUR NAME Timed Essay One (or Two or Three).
Read the details about the test in Blackboard in Week One.
 The First Timed Essay is taken during the 1st week of classes.
 Timed Essay Two is taken during the 5th week.
 Timed Essay Three is taken during the 9th week.
ALL Timed Essays must be submitted through Blackboard
Certified copies of your test must be in your Portfolio;
they will be available in My Grades in feedback.
If you experience computer problems, you
will be required to take another test with a
new writing prompt.
These useful instructional videos are
available for downloading.
Click on this link, and then click on
download to view the mp4 files:
1. How to submit assignments
2. How to upload essays to
Turnitin.com through Blackboard
3. How to obtain the html version of
the Turnitin Originality Reports
4. How to upload documents to your
Online Storage for your Portfolio
5. How to Create Online Portfolios
6. How to Share Your Portfolio
• My contact:
georgie.ziff@csueastbay.edu
• Emails MUST include the
school, your class section,
and your name in the subject
line of the email to receive a
response
• Emails received after 5 pm will
be responded to the next
day; after 5 pm Friday, will be
responded to on Monday.
• Before emailing, be sure to
read ALL the Orientation
materials, FAQs, syllabus and
the Schedule folders.
 Contact the Blackboard
Service Desk Phone Support for
help.
 The Service Desk is available
at 510-885-4357 from 8:30 AM to
4:30 PM. A dedicated team of
student assistants and staff will
do their best to help with IT
issues.
 If the issue is more complicated
a ticket will be opened and
assigned to the appropriate IT
teams. A ticket can also be
opened directly at:
http://www.csueastbay.edu/
servicedesk.
Additional help is available at the
Learning Commons: 510-885-4152
Email: stsc@csueastbay.edu
 Read the ALL of the Orientation Materials
and FAQs in Blackboard, and look through
the Schedule and Menu Bar folders
 Buy the textbook and Video Access Code
 Post to the Discussion Boards
 Take the First Timed Essay by Friday 5 pm
 Read the class webpage on my website
where you can find more information:
 CSUEB 3000 Online