Like Bill advises, skip the film speed test. Set your E.I. at 2/3 stop slower than whatever speed the film says it is. ISO 400 speed film would be 250. ISO 100 speed film would be 64, etc. Forget the proper proof (printing so the film base is max black) for now too. What you want to do is find a developing time for "normal" scenes in which textured blacks are Zone III and textured whites are Zone VIII on the meter.
Before you go to the next step you need to differentiate between "placing" a value and where a value "falls." You meter a shadow that you want to be rendered a textured black in the print and "place" it in Zone III. This is the value that you will base your exposure on. Once you find the right exposure for the shadow value placed where you want it, you have your exposure setting. You only need to check the highlight to see what development you need. Since you're testing "normal" (N), you need to find a scene in which a value you want as a textured white naturally "falls" in Zone VIII. Sometimes you have to look a while for a scene with this distribution of luminances.
On to the actual test: Find your Zone III shadow; the one you want to be textured black in the print. Meter it and then "place" it in Zone III by setting your meter dial to overexpose it two stops from the suggested exposure (which is Zone V). Example: if your meter says f/22 at 1/30 sec., your Zone III exposure would be f/22 at 1/8 sec.
Set your meter dial at that Zone III exposure and leave it there. Next meter the highlight value you want to be a textured white. If you have a "normal" scene (which is what you want for testing N development times!), a highlight that you want rendered a textured white should "fall" on Zone VIII, which in this case is five stops less exposure that what your meter dial is set at, or something like f/22 at 1/250 sec. So meter that highlight and see what the meter says. If it doesn't read close to that, then you don't have a "normal" scene; go find another one
Maybe you'll have to wait for the sun to come out or whatever.
Then, develop your negatives for the recommended time and 20% more and less. One of the resulting negatives should be close. To check, though, don't make a proper proof, but rather print the negatives so that the Zone III shadow is how you want it to look. Choose the print in which the Zone VIII highlight is a textured white. One of the negatives should be close. If you have one print with the highlight too light and another with the highlight too dark, then extrapolate the intermediate time. That will get you close enough to begin making fine prints.
Don't worry about testing for N+ and N- times till you have normal (N) nailed down. Normal scenes are found on regular sunny days where you have open shadows and sunlit highlights as long as the lighting isn't too harsh.
As far as "proper proofs" go: I find them useful to keep tabs on my exposure and development. Do make some of these, but be aware that maximum black is relative to lighting used for viewing, etc., etc. The danger is to want to make the film rebate too dark resulting in thinking you need to slow your film way, way down. If you do that E.I. test and you find your best E.I. is two or three stops slower than box speed, you're likely making the proper proof wrong.
Does that make sense now?
Doremus