As we all have learned the structure of the GRE Quantitative Section, we will go through the subsections and related tips with it.
In this part you need to solve math problems, interpret data, apply mathematical concepts, and manage your time effectively. There are 4 types of questions in this section as mentioned below.
Quantitative Comparison Questions Multiple choice questions where you select one answer choice Multiple choice questions where you select one or more answer choices Numeric entry questions
The goal in the GRE Quantitative Reasoning Section is to accurately solve mathematical problems and interpret data to demonstrate your quantitative skills.
Here are some major tips to answer the questions of the Quantitative Reasoning Section as mentioned below.
Make sure you fully understand each question and do not rush through tricky ones. Translate words into math carefully. Check for keywords that can change the meaning and double-check your interpretation.
Practice without a calculator if possible. Use it only for complex calculations during the test. Avoid over-reliance; many problems can be solved with mental math or basic calculations.
Aim to solve each question in 1-2 minutes. If you are stuck for over 2 minutes, make an educated guess and move on. Prioritize questions based on your strengths to manage your time effectively.
Write down important numbers and phrases from the questions. Approach these questions strategically. Often, you do not need to solve mathematically—just understand the relationships between quantities.
Plug numbers from answer choices into the question to check if they work. Start with middle options. This method can quickly show you which answers are feasible without solving the entire problem.
Use simple numbers in place of variables to make problems easier. Ensure the numbers you choose fit the problem’s conditions. This approach simplifies the math and helps you see patterns.
Be consistent with your strategies and solve problems methodically, regardless of their difficulty. If you find a method that works, use it for similar problems. Adapt your approach based on the problem type.
Get familiar with the wording of answer choices to save time during the test. This will help you quickly identify the correct answer or rule out incorrect ones. Practice recognizing patterns in answer choices.
Read all labels and understand the data trends before answering questions. Look for key details like scales and units. Make sure you grasp the overall picture before diving into the questions.
Divide tough shapes into smaller parts and label them to make geometry problems easier. Look for familiar shapes and properties within the figure. Redrawing and labeling can reveal hidden relationships.
Your target GRE score should match the average score of admitted students for the program you want.
Score Over 160: Ideal for most programs. Score Over 150: Still good for many universities. Score Below 150: Might make it harder to get into top universities.
Check the average GRE scores for universities you are interested in to see what score will make you competitive.
Harvard University | 164 |
---|---|
Stanford University | 162 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | 161 |
University of California, Berkeley | 160 |
University of Chicago | 163 |
Yale University | 165 |
Princeton University | 164 |
Columbia University | 162 |
University of Pennsylvania | 161 |
University of Michigan | 159 |
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | 160 |
Duke University | 162 |
Northwestern University | 161 |
University of Washington | 159 |
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) | 158 |
University of Texas at Austin | 157 |
University of Wisconsin-Madison | 158 |
New York University | 162 |
University of Southern California (USC) | 160 |
University of Florida | 156 |
Also Read: Introduction of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Score High on GRE: How to Get Good Score in GRE What is a Good GRE Score in 2024? Tips to Achieve Your Target GRE Score GRE Exam Fee Waiver 2024: How to Get a GRE Fee Waiver? GRE Geometry | Lines and Angles
Is a 149 verbal gre score good.
A score above the 75th percentile in either section will make you a competitive applicant. That means aiming for at least a 157 in Verbal Reasoning and at least a 163 in Quantitative Reasoning.
A good GRE score is considered to be 158+ on Verbal Reasoning, 159+ on Quantitative Reasoning, and 4.5+ on Analytical Writing.
A GRE score average of 290 to 300 can take you to a quality university in the USA, which would surely help you take off your career ladder. Not just that, there are a variety of courses and MS programs that you can choose from.
Similar reads.
For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio , a new iOS app available for news subscribers.
A guide to the career, politics and sudden stardom of gov. tim walz of minnesota, now vice president kamala harris’s running mate..
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.
Hey, it’s Michael. Before we get started, I want to tell you about another show made by “The New York Times” that pairs perfectly with “The Daily.” It’s called “The Headlines.” It’s a show hosted by my colleague, Tracy Mumford, that quickly catches you up on the day’s top stories and features insights from “The Times” reporters who are covering them, all in about 10 minutes or less.
So if you like “The Daily”— and if you’re listening, I have to assume you do — I hope that means you’re going to “The Headlines” as well. You can now find “The Headlines” wherever you get your podcasts. So find it, subscribe to it, and thank you. And now, here’s today’s “Daily.”
From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Today, the story of how a little known Midwestern governor became Kamala Harris’s choice for a running mate. My colleague Ernesto Londoño walks us through the career, politics, and sudden stardom of Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.
It’s Wednesday, August 7.
Ernesto, over the past few days, we watched Vice President Harris bring the final three contenders for her running mate to her house in Washington, DC, for a set of in-person interviews. And then we watched as she seemed to narrow her pool of choices down to a final two — the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, and the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz. And now, of course, we know that she has made her choice. What has she told us about her campaign strategy, the way she views this race, in ultimately choosing Tim Walz?
Michael, I think what the choice tells us is that Kamala Harris was drawn to two qualities that Governor Walz brings to the table. And what’s interesting is they may seem to be in tension. For starters, here’s the ultimate everyday man, somebody who grew up in a small town in Middle America, served in the National Guard, was a high school teacher, a football coach, very plain-spoken, goes to campaign events wearing T-shirts and baseball caps, is a gun owner and very proud about it. He sort of embodies the Midwest.
And she clearly thinks that that is going to bring the kind of moderate, white, working class voters that the campaign needs in swing states to come to them, to make this feel like a balanced ticket and something that will give her enough of the crucial votes to defeat Donald Trump in the fall.
On the other hand, as governor, he passed a slew of pretty progressive legislation in the past couple of years, everything from abortion rights to gun control. So these things are likely to appeal to bread and butter Democrats.
But the question is, when voters have examined these two facets of Tim Walz, may it bring them enough enthusiasm from the base and enough undecided voters that the campaign desperately needs, or at some point, do these two aspects of him start canceling each other out?
Right. In short, you’re saying Harris is betting on a dual appeal from Walz to two essential constituencies, but the risk is that the appeal to one of them is just much, much greater than to the other.
Right. You could definitely see a scenario where voters, once they’ve examined Tim Walz’s story and legacy, may conclude that both of these candidates are quite liberal.
OK, so tell us the story of Tim Walz, a story that I think a lot of us don’t know because we really don’t know Walz all that well, and how he has come to embody these two qualities and that tension that you just described.
Michael, the origin story of Tim Walz’s political career is quite fascinating.
He and his wife were teachers in a small city south of Minneapolis. And in 2004, when George W. Bush was running for re-election, Walz took a group of his students to a political rally in his hometown. They wanted to just see the president make his case. And a strange scuffle happened when they were trying to get in.
Well, one of the kids had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet. And this is where the individual says, well, you’re not going to be allowed to enter. You’ve been deemed a threat.
Apparently, one of the students had a sticker for Bush’s rival, John Kerry, on his wallet. And security officials at the rally didn’t want to let them in.
And I said, oh, it’s OK. They’re with me. And who are you? And I said, I’m Tim Walz. I’m their teacher here, and showed them my ID. And they said, well, you two have been deemed a threat to the president. And I said, well, that’s not true. And it kind of escalated.
And this really ticked off Tim Walz. He was really upset. There was a fight and a confrontation at the rally.
At this point in time, I’m kind of nervous. I’m getting arrested. So I’m like saying, well, I’m Teacher of the Year in Mankato. And they didn’t care about that. And it was kind of a sad epiphany moment, how it felt for people to be looked right through by people. These people didn’t see me. And this is happening.
And ultimately, he sort of walks away from this moment feeling really sick of the Bush administration, the politics of the day. And he turns around and volunteers for the Kerry campaign.
And then the more interested he becomes in politics in this era, he starts looking around his congressional district, and there’s a Republican who’s held the seat for many, many years. This was a largely rural district in southern Minnesota. And there’s no reason to believe that a newcomer to politics, somebody without a donor base, could make a run for this seat and win.
But Walz signs up for this weekend boot camp, where expert campaigners train newcomers who want to run for office. And he gets really enthused by the idea that he can pull it off. So he starts raising money with the support of an army of students who become so thrilled and energized by the prospect that their nerdy and kind geography teacher is making this uphill bid for a congressional race.
So his campaign staff is basically his former students.
That’s right. And he proves to be a formidable candidate. He draws a lot of attention to his experience in the classroom and as a coach.
When I coached football, these stands held about 3,000 people. That’s a lot. It’s also the number of American soldiers who have died fighting in Iraq.
He’s a very strong advocate for pulling out of the war in Iraq.
Serving right now are kids that I taught, coached, and trained to be soldiers. They deserve a plan for Iraq to govern itself, so they can come home.
And one thing that happens in the campaign that is really surprising to people is he comes out as being in favor of same-sex marriage. Now, it’s useful to remember that this is 2006, when the vast majority of Democrats, Democrats running for most elected office, were not ready to come out in favor of same-sex marriage.
And here’s a guy who’s new to politics, who’s trying to unseat a Republican who’s held on to his seat for more than 12 years, taking what appeared to be a reckless position on something. And when he was asked about it at the time, Tim Walz told a supporter, this just happens to be what I believe in. And I’d rather lose a race that I’ve ran being true and consistent to my values than try to run as somebody I’m not.
And of course, he wins.
Yes. To everybody’s surprise, he pulled it off.
So from the get-go, he shows a kind of maverick, “politics be damned” quality, taking stands that he knows may be unpopular among the voters he’s trying to win over. But he’s got some innate political gifts that are all making it work.
Yeah, I think that first campaign showed us that Tim Walz had real political chops. He was a very effective campaigner. And people really liked him. When he was knocking on doors, when he was introducing himself to voters, they saw him as somebody who was very genuine and who was admirable.
So once he gets elected in this conservative leaning district in Minnesota, what does he actually do in Congress?
In Congress, he develops a reputation for being somebody who can work across the aisle. And this is a period where Democrats and Republicans were deeply polarized over the Iraq War. He spends a lot of his time lobbying to expand benefits for veterans, so it’s easier for them to go to college after their service, and also becomes a leading voice in the quest to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the policy that prohibited openly gay servicemen from serving in uniform.
And he remained really popular. He easily won re-election five times. The last time he runs for his seat happens to be 2016, when President Trump wins his district by about 15 points.
And still, voters kept Tim Walz in office.
I think it’s important to note what you just said. Walz is distinguishing himself as a Democrat who can take some pretty progressive positions, as he did in that first campaign on gay rights, as he did with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and keep winning in very Trump-friendly districts of his state.
That’s right. And as he’s serving his sixth term in office, he sets his sights on the governor’s mansion and decides to run for office in 2018. He wins that race easily. And early on, during his time as governor, the eyes of the world are on Minnesota after a police officer kills George Floyd. And what we see is massive looting and protests in Minneapolis.
Right, and remind us how Governor Walz handles that violence, those protests.
Yeah, I think that’s a crucial chapter in Tim Walz’s political career and one that will come under scrutiny in the days ahead.
After George Floyd was killed on a Monday —
People are upset, and they’re tired. And being Black in Minnesota already has a stigma and a mark on your back.
— protests took root in Minneapolis.
Y’all want to sit out here and shoot off your rubber bullets and tear gas.
And they got progressively larger and more violent.
There comes a point where the mayor and the police chief in Minneapolis plead for help. They ask the governor to send in the National Guard. And crucially, that request was not immediately heeded.
This is the third precinct here. There are fires burning to the left of it at the —
And at the height of the crisis, a police precinct building was abandoned.
There’s someone climbing up the wall right now, kicking the window in, trying to climb up the wall.
Because city officials grew concerned that protesters were about to overrun it and may attack the cops inside their own turf.
[EXPLOSIONS]
And the building is set on fire.
Right, a very memorable image. I can recall it happening in real-time.
Yeah, and in the days that followed, I think there were a lot of questions of why the governor didn’t send in troops earlier and whether a more muscular, decisive response could have averted some of the destruction that spread through the city.
And how does Walz end up explaining his decision not to send in the National Guard more quickly?
The governor and his administration have said that they were really, really dealing with an unprecedented challenge. And I think there was a concern that sending in troops into this really, really tense situation could have done more to escalate rather than pacify things on the street.
But in the weeks and months that followed, there were a lot of questions about Governor Walz’s leadership. And there were critics who said, during what may have been the most challenging week of his life, we saw a governor who was indecisive and who waited too long to send in resources that ultimately allowed the city to get to a semblance of order.
Right, and it feels like this is a moment that will almost assuredly be used against him by Donald Trump and JD Vance, the Republican ticket, which has made law and order so central to their message in this campaign.
Yeah, absolutely. And here in Minnesota, that was certainly a liability for him when he ran for re-election in 2022. But voters kept him in office, and he won that race handily. And not only did he win, but Democrats managed to flip the Senate and have full control of the legislature on his watch.
And that sets in motion one of the most productive legislative sessions in Minnesota history, where Tim Walz and his allies in the House and the Senate managed to pass a trove of really progressive legislation, oftentimes on a party vote.
Tell us about some of that legislation.
Well, Minnesota becomes the first state in the wake of the Supreme Court ending the constitutional right to abortion to actually codify this right under state statute. And they did a lot more stuff. They had a huge budget surplus, and they used that, for instance, to fund meals for all school children.
They managed to pass a couple of gun control laws that were very contentious. They gave the right to undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. They legalized recreational marijuana. And finally, the governor takes a pretty bold stance on this issue of gender affirming care for transgender kids and teenagers, and says that Minnesota will be a safe haven for people who want that health care.
So, Ernesto, so how should we think about that blitz of legislation and the largely progressive tone of it, given the way that Walz had campaigned and succeeded up to that moment as somebody with such broad appeal across the political spectrum?
When the governor was asked whether this had been too much too quickly in terms of progressive legislation, his answer was that these were broadly popular policies, that these are issues Democrats had campaigned on. And here, Democrats had a window of opportunity where they were in control of the governor’s mansion and control of the House, the Senate, and that when you have political capital, you spend it.
But when you start listening to Republicans in Minnesota, they say, here’s a guy who campaigned on this mantra of “One Minnesota.” That was his campaign slogan. And he sort of came into office with this promise that he would govern in a bipartisan way, reach across the aisle.
But when they had all the votes they needed to pass their policies, Republicans felt that Walz was not bothering to bring them into the fold and to pass legislation that was going to be palatable to conservatives in the state. So I think people who once regarded him as a moderate now start seeing him as somebody who, when he had the power, acted in ways that were really progressive and liberal.
So at the height of his power, Governor Walz emerges as somebody who, when given a shot at getting done what he really wants to get done with a Democratic legislature, is a pretty progressive leader, even at the risk of being somewhat at odds with his earlier image as more moderate, because in his mind, enough people in the state are behind these policies.
Yeah, and I think he assumed that he had banked enough goodwill and that people across the state liked him enough to tolerate policies they may have disagreed with. And I think it’s safe to say, among the people who cover him here regularly, there was never any real hint that Tim Walz was eyeing a run for higher office. He’s not somebody who has written the kind of political memoir that oftentimes serves as a case of what you would bring to a national ticket or to the White House. And he seems pretty happy with a state job.
So it was a huge surprise when Tim Walz starts going viral through a string of cable news appearances right after President Biden drops out of the race, and the Democrats are scrambling to put Harris at the top of the ticket. And what becomes clear is that Walz is very forcefully auditioning for the role of vice president, and Vice President. Harris starts taking him very seriously.
We’ll be right back.
So, Ernesto, tell us about this cable news audition that Governor Walz undertakes over the past few weeks and how, ultimately, it seemed to help him land this job of being Harris’s running mate.
I think Walz does something really interesting, and that is that he says that Democrats shouldn’t be talking about Trump and Vance as existential threats. He kind of makes the case that Democrats have been in this state of fear and paralysis for too long, and that it’s not serving them well. So the word he latches onto is “weird.”
Well, it’s true. These guys are just weird.
It is. It is.
And they’re running for he-man women hater’s club or something. That’s what they go at. That’s not what people are interested in.
And I think one other thing we see in Walz is somebody who’s putting himself out there as a foil to JD Vance.
That angst that JD Vance talks about in “Hillbilly Elegy,” none of my hillbilly cousins went to Yale, and none of them went on to be venture capitalists or whatever. It’s not —
I think the case he’s making is that Tim Walz is a more authentic embodiment of small town values.
What I know is, is that people like JD Vance know nothing about small town America. My town had 400 people in it, 24 kids in my graduating class. 12 were cousins. And he gets it all wrong. It’s not about hate.
And behind the scenes, people from Tim Walz’s days on Capitol Hill start calling everybody they know in the Harris campaign and the Harris orbit and saying, here’s a guy who has executive experience as governor, but also somebody who has a really impressive record from his time on Capitol Hill and somebody who could be an asset in helping a Harris administration pass tough legislation. So you should take a hard look at this guy.
Which is, of course, exactly what Harris ends up doing. And I want to talk for a moment about how Harris announces Walz as her running mate on Tuesday morning. She did it in an Instagram message. And it felt like the way she did it very much embraced this idea that you raised earlier, Ernesto, that Walz contains these two appeals, one to the Democratic base, one to the white working class.
Harris specifically cites the work that Walz did with Republicans on infrastructure and then cites his work on gun control. She mentions that he was a football coach and the founder of the high school Gay Straight Alliance. She’s straddling these two versions of Walz.
But I want to linger on the idea for a moment of Walz’s vulnerabilities, because once he becomes Harris’s running mate, Harris and Walz are going to lose a fair amount of control over how they present him to the country, because he’s going to become the subject of very fierce attacks from the Republicans in this race. So talk about that for just a moment.
Yeah, I mean, it’s important to keep in mind that Governor Walz has never endured the scrutiny of a presidential race. So the questions he’s going to be asked and the way his record is going to be looked at is going to be different and sharper. I think the Harris campaign is billing him as, first and foremost, a fighter for the middle class. And I think that certainly will have some appeal.
But I think in coming days, there’s going to be a lot of attention drawn to parts of his record that may be unpopular with many voters. For instance, giving undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses, which Governor Walz championed. It’s likely to provide fodder for an attack ad.
The very dramatic footage of Minneapolis burning in 2020 is also something that I think people will be drawn to. And there’s going to be interest in reexamining what the governor did and what he could have done differently to avert the chaos.
And on Tuesday, we saw that the Trump campaign wasted no time in trying to define Tim Walz as soft on crime, permissive on immigration policy. And they also made clear they wanted to relitigate the era of George Floyd’s killing. And specifically, they want to try to tie him to the effort at the time to defund the police, which is a movement that Walz personally never endorsed.
So the Republican attack here will be pretty simple. Walz is liberal. Harris is liberal. So, in their efforts to speak to especially white working class and rural voters in swing states, the Trump campaign is going to say this is not the ticket for that group of voters. This is the ticket of burning police precincts and gun control. And of course, that may not be fair, but that’s very likely going to be the message over the next couple of months.
Right. I think there’s going to be effort to portray him as a radical liberal who has used his small town roots to put on this sort of veneer of being a moderate and a really sort of understanding and being part of the segments of the electorate that I think are critical in this election.
I want to speak for just a moment about the person Harris did not pick when she chose Walz because many Democrats had felt that Walz was a potentially too liberal seeming running mate for a candidate, Kamala Harris, who herself comes from a blue state and is caricatured by the Republicans as liberal herself.
And the person she didn’t choose was Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who was seen as having a huge appeal in that particular key swing state, but also presented risks of his own of alienating parts of the Democratic base with his well-documented support for Israel and his criticism of campus protesters. How should we think about the fact that, ultimately, Harris chose Walz over Shapiro?
Yeah, I think in the final stretch of this campaign to be the vice presidential pick, we started seeing a lot of acrimony in pockets of the Democratic base, drawing attention to the fact that Governor Shapiro could be divisive on Gaza, which has really sort of split the party in recent months.
So I think at the end of the day, they made a calculation that Tim Walz would be more of a unifying figure and would be somebody who would inspire and energize enough pockets of the electorate that they need, particularly in the Midwest, to make him the stronger and more exciting pick and somebody who wouldn’t force them to go back to defending and relitigating the Biden administration’s record on Israel and on the war in Gaza.
Right, and then, on Tuesday night, we got our first glimpse of Harris and Walz together on stage for the first time at a campaign rally. I’m curious, what struck you about their debut together.
Good evening, Philadelphia.
I think everybody was watching the opening scene of this rally to see what the chemistry between these two people was going to be like. And they both seemed giddy. They were literally, at times, bouncing with enthusiasm.
Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future.
So Pennsylvania, I’m here today because I found such a leader.
Governor Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.
They soon got down to business. And that business was how to define Tim Waltz for voters who don’t know him well.
To those who know him best, Tim is more than a governor.
And right off the bat, we saw that Kamala Harris really highlighted a lot of pieces of his pre-political career.
To his former high school football players, he was Coach.
She repeatedly called him Coach Walz, Mr. Walz, evoking his time in the classroom, and even used his military title from his days in the Army.
To his fellow veterans, he is Sergeant Major Walz.
And then when it came time for Tim Walz to introduce himself on this massive stage —
Welcome the next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz.
— he drew a lot of attention to his small town roots.
I was born in West Point, Nebraska. I lived in Butte, a small town of 400.
He said something that he said repeatedly recently in campaign appearances, which is —
In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule — mind your own damn business.
The golden rule of small towns is you mind your own damn business, which is something he said in the context of his argument that Republicans have been limiting, rather than expanding, people’s rights. But he also drew attention to the fact that he’s a gun owner.
By the way, as you heard, I was one of the best shots in Congress. But in Minnesota, we believe in the Second Amendment, but we also believe in common sense gun violence laws.
And then when it came time to draw a sharp contrast with their opponents, Tim Walz said, these guys are phonies.
Donald Trump is not fighting for you or your family. He never sat at that kitchen table like the one I grew up at, wondering how we were going to pay the bills. He sat at his country club in Mar-a-Lago, wondering how he can cut taxes for his rich friends.
He said it’s actually people like me and Kamala Harris who come from humble origins and showed what is possible in America when you hail from a working class background, and you seize opportunities that were available to you.
Thank you, Philadelphia. Thank you, Vice President. God bless America.
So when it comes to this question of Walz’s dual identities and dual appeals, what did we learn on day one of this new Democratic ticket, do you think?
I think the campaign is trying to convey that these two facets of Tim Walz’s life are not mutually exclusive, that they don’t need to be in tension. They don’t cancel each other out. They’re both part of Tim Walz’s story. And I think that’s how they’re going to present him from now until Election Day.
Ernesto, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
It’s my pleasure, Michael.
Here’s what else you need to know today. On Tuesday, Hamas said that Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds behind the deadly October 7 attacks on Israel, had consolidated his power over the entire organization. Until now, Sinwar had held the title of Hamas’s leader in Gaza. But with the assassination of Hamas’s top political leader by Israel last week, Hamas said that Sinwar would take on that title as well. Sinwar remains a major target of Israel and is believed to have been hiding in tunnels underneath Gaza since October 7.
And the US Department of Justice has charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran with trying to hire a hitman to assassinate political figures in the United States. The man recently traveled to the US and was arrested in New York last month. American authorities believe that his potential targets likely included former President Trump.
Today’s episode was produced by Alex Stern, Eric Krupke, and Olivia Natt. It was edited by Lisa Chow and Patricia Willens, contains original music by Pat McCusker and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Nick Pittman and Minnesota Public Radio.
That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.
Hosted by Michael Barbaro
Featuring Ernesto Londoño
Produced by Alex Stern Eric Krupke and Olivia Natt
Edited by Lisa Chow and Patricia Willens
Original music by Marion Lozano and Pat McCusker
Engineered by Alyssa Moxley
Earlier this summer, few Democrats could have identified Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.
But, in a matter of weeks, Mr. Walz has garnered an enthusiastic following in his party, particularly among the liberals who cheer on his progressive policies. On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate. Ernesto Londoño, who reports for The Times from Minnesota, walks us through Mr. Walz’s career, politics and sudden stardom.
Ernesto Londoño , a reporter for The Times based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest.
Who is Tim Walz , Kamala Harris’s running mate?
Mr. Walz has faced criticism for his response to the George Floyd protests.
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We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.
The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Michael Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.
Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam and Nick Pitman.
An earlier version of this episode misstated the subject that Walz’s wife taught. She taught English, not Social Studies.
How we handle corrections
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. More about Ernesto Londoño
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As a mastery approach becomes increasingly common in many schools, we have been working with teachers on a project to uncover effective ways to support their learners working 'at greater depth'. In this article, we will share our key findings and some of our favourite whole-class teaching resources which offer opportunities for teaching 'at greater depth'. (Several of these are linked from the NCETM's resources which exemplify their 'ready to progress criteria'.)
One of the challenges facing many teachers is engaging all learners throughout the lesson when adopting a whole-class teaching approach. As guidance issued to schools indicates, "It is inevitable that some pupils will grasp concepts more rapidly than others and will need to be stimulated and challenged to ensure continued progression” (Askew et al., 2015, p.6).
Aware of these concerns, the guidance adopted the phrase ‘mastery at greater depth’ and suggested that pupils working at this level should be able to:
• solve problems of greater complexity (i.e. where the approach is not immediately obvious), demonstrating creativity and imagination;
• independently explore and investigate mathematical contexts and structures, communicate results clearly and systematically explain and generalise the mathematics.
(Askew et al. 2015, p.7)
The requirement for learners working 'at greater depth' to investigate more complex problems, work independently and communicate their ideas to others are the very foundations of our Low Threshold High Ceiling (LTHC) approach at NRICH: a low threshold ensures that every learner can get started on a problem and the high ceiling ensures that there is a suitable level of challenege, often unseen, for the learner to consider if and when they are ready to do so.
We teamed up with a group of schools based in Tower Hamlets, who were participating in a joint professional development programme with NRICH and the Tower Hamlets Education Partnership, to invesigate ways to maximise the potential of our curriculum-mapped LTHC resources for teaching 'at greater depth'. In this article we share some of their top tips.
During a visit, we joined a very engaged class who quickly got started on the challenge. Working in pairs, with their teacher taking reguar opportunities to pause the groups and allow time to share their ideas with the wider class, the learners began to organise their dominoes so that they could more easily check which, if any, were missing. Some learners who had completed the initial task were further challenged to consider how many dominoes they might have if the maximum number of dots on each side was increased to seven:
Teacher: We’re doing the seven row. Prove to me that there’s eight in the seven row.
Learner: It will only be like this, seven zero add one, seven one, seven two, seven three, seven four, seven five, seven six, seven seven but you can’t go over that.
Teacher: So when you get to the seven seven you can’t go any further. So you proved it. There’s no doubles and you can’t go any further than seven seven, can you?
The learning did not stop there, the lesson went much deeper as the learners were encouraged by their teacher to set themselves the challenge of thinking about sets of dominoes which go up to 'double 10', or 'double 20' or even 'double 100'. Working with these much larger domino sets encouraged those working 'at greater depth' to generalise their ideas, and their enthusiasm led them to continue working through their break time!
Reflecting on the lesson, the teacher noted that one member of that day's 'at greater depth' group had previously struggled to engage with their mathematics:
What’s great about NRICH activities is that it just shows children can shine even if we’ve got them in a box under 'expected'. That’s what I love about it... You know, he completely steps out of the box and he’s shining.
Clearly, one of the many benefits of working with LTHC resources is their potential for challenging all learners and enabling them to reveal their potential. Be prepared to be surprised.
No-one enjoys trying to do too much at once, any activity can become frustrating if it is too far beyond our comfort zone. This is true in our classrooms too. In our mathematics lessons, our curriculum challenges teachers to develop fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills, and trying to find a balance within a particular lesson can be a challenge (this is an aspect we explore more fully in this article by Clare Lee and Sue Johnston-Wilder). By choosing LTHC activities, learners can easily get started on a task, building their confidence and willingness to engage with further challenges later on.
One of the strategies we used to solve the coded 100 chart was to look for patterns. We did this by looking in each column and finding that the symbols end with the same shape. For example, the first column of numbers always end in a rhombus shape. The same thing with the rows. Each row, we noticed while putting the symbols together, begins with the same shape. To solve this problem, we think it's best to work with the shape you first put in the 100 chart, and keep building off of that one. The first piece you out in the 100 chart works best if it fits into a corner of the chart.
In contrast, Nathan adoted a very different approach:
Start by placing any one piece and think which one will fit. Before putting it there, think if any other shape could fit. Then, if not try another shape that could fit. After the one you choose is put on, repeat until the coded hundred chart is filled. If you mess up, click on pieces to show the full piece and see if you can change a piece for another piece. Remember the first strategy to check if another one can fit after that one and then repeat again and again until you're done. After I fit the pieces together, I looked down each column. I checked that all the symbols in the ones placed matched. I looked across each row and checked that the symbols in the ones places were in order (1,2,3,4...).
For learners to be working 'at greater depth', they need to be communicating their ideas clearly to others. In our project schools, the teachers often encouraged their learners to reflect on their problem-solving by recording their ideas in a class book. These books were proudly shared with visitors on arrival to their classes, including the NRICH team. Although we cannot visit every classroom, we do enjoy reading solutions to our problems. For example, Jordan, Juoiana and Nathan all submitted their ideas about the Coded Hundred Square to the team and their ideas were published on NRICH. Your classes are very welcome to share their ideas about our problem-solving tasks too, simply visit our Live Problems page for our very latest opportunities to communicate mathematically with the team. We publish a selection of the submissions we receive on our website.
There are 10 leaves per twig There are 10 twigs per branch 10 leaves x 10 twigs = 100 leaves per branch There are 10 branches per trunk 100 leaves x 10 branches = 1000 leaves per trunk There are 10 trunks per tree 1000 leaves x 10 trunks = 10 000 leaves on the tree
Cut off one trunk: 10 000 - 1000 = 9000 leaves left Cut off one branch: 9000 - 100 = 8900 leaves left Cut off one twig: 8900 - 10 = 8890 leaves left Pull off one leaf: 8890 - 1 = 8889 leaves left
There are 8889 leaves left on the tree.
Another learner called Rachel seemed to approach the problem in the same way as Kirsty, but she found the total number of leaves which had been pulled off the tree before finding the total number of leaves on the tree initially.
Submitting solutions often leads to published solutions, and the teachers in our project schools also reported on the usefulness of the solutions accompanying our resources. Some teachers set aside time the following day after introducing an NRICH problem to their classes to enable their learners to compare their solutions with those from other classes:
I really like the solution thing now that I know how to use it and things. Getting the language out of it and stuff and using it after they’ve done it. Maybe tomorrow... we might start by looking at the solution that was there... Everyone will understand it tomorrow and then we can really, you know, look at it and decide whether we like it and pull it apart.
Another key finding from our project teachers was the importance of setting aside time to explore each LTHC activity for themselves before the lesson. This approach enabled the teachers to consider the possibilities for extending the learners where needed, to enable teaching 'at greater depth', but it was often seen as a thoroughly enjoyable experience too:
I mean, I consider myself greater depth, okay? ... I do have, you know, quite a high level of maths. So, basically, if I have a greater depth and I’m enjoying it and taking it on and forward progressing, clearly those children can do the same, can’t they?
Our school-based research revealed these four 'tips' for schools to support their learners working 'at greater depth' using NRICH tasks:
We hope that reading this article will inspire readers to explore the potential of using NRICH tasks to support their own learners working 'at greater depth'.
This project would not have beeen possible without the generous support of the team at the Tower Hamlets Education Partnership and the teachers who welcomed the NRICH team into their classrooms. We were delighted to share our findings at the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics Day (BSRLM) Conference in November 2020 - you can access a copy of the accompanying research paper which was published in the BSRLM's Proceedings here .
Askew, A., Bishop, S., Christie, C., Eaton, S., Griffin, P. and Morgan, D. (2015). Teaching for Mastery: Questions, tasks and activities to support assessment . Oxford University Press.
Lee, C. and Johnson-Wilder, S. (2018). Getting into and staing in the Growth Zone. Retrieved from https://nrich.maths.org/13491
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Here are five strategies to help students check their solutions. 1. Use the Inverse Operation. For simpler problems, a quick and easy problem solving strategy is to use the inverse operation. For example, if the operation to solve a word problem is 56 ÷ 8 = 7 students can check the answer is correct by multiplying 8 × 7.
Telling a student to reread the problem or to think about what tools or resources would help them solve it is a way to get them to try something new but not take over their thinking. These skills are also transferable across content, and students will be reminded, "Good readers and mathematicians reread.". 6.
Becoming confident and competent as a problem solver is a complex process that requires a range of skills and experience. In this article, Jennie suggests that we can support this process in three principal ways. This article, written for primary teachers, discusses what we mean by 'problem-solving skills' and draws attention to NRICH tasks ...
Getting the Most from Each of the Problem Solving Activities. When students participate in problem solving activities, it is important to ask guiding, not leading, questions. This provides students with the support necessary to move forward in their thinking and it provides teachers with a more in-depth understanding of student thinking.
This is where math becomes a creative endeavor (and where it becomes so much fun). We will articulate some useful problem solving strategies, but no such list will ever be complete. ... Problem Solving Strategy 3 (Using a variable to find the sum of a sequence.) Gauss's strategy for sequences. last term = fixed number (n-1) + first term.
Then, I provided them with the "keys to success.". Step 1 - Understand the Problem. To help students understand the problem, I provided them with sample problems, and together we did five important things: read the problem carefully. restated the problem in our own words. crossed out unimportant information.
Problem Solving Strategy 9 (Find the Math, Remove the Context). Sometimes the problem has a lot of details in it that are unimportant, or at least unimportant for getting started. The goal is to find the underlying math problem, then come back to the original question and see if you can solve it using the math.
The Problem-solving Classroom. This article forms part of our Problem-solving Classroom Feature, exploring how to create a space in which mathematical problem solving can flourish. At NRICH, we believe that there are four main aspects to consider: • Highlighting key problem-solving skills. • Examining the teacher's role.
Maths problem solving KS2 is crucial to succeeding in national assessments. If your Key Stage 2 pupils are still struggling with reasoning and problem solving in Maths, here are some problem solving strategies to try with your classes; all aligned to Ofsted's suggested primary school teaching strategies.
Schema approach. This is a math intervention strategy that can make problem solving easier for all students, regardless of ability. Compare different word problems of the same type and construct a formula, or mathematical sentence stem, that applies to them all. For example, a simple subtraction problems could be expressed as:
In this video, we explore one of eight problem-solving strategies for the primary math student. Students are introduced to the Using Logical Thinking strateg...
The most remarkable technique for problem solving in mathematics is to help students see patterns in math problems by instructing them how to extract and list relevant details. This method may be used by students when learning shapes and other topics that need repetition. Students may use this strategy to spot patterns and fill in the blanks.
Summary. Five strategies for problem solving success: Choose a task that YOU'RE keen on, Set a goal for strengthening problem solving skills, Plan a short launch to make the task widely accessible, Use questions, tools and prompts to support productive exploration, and. Wrap up to create space for pivotal learning.
A Problem Solving Strategy: Find the Math, Remove the Context. Sometimes the problem has a lot of details in it that are unimportant, or at least unimportant for getting started. The goal is to find the underlying math problem, then come back to the original question and see if you can solve it using the math.
Stage 1: Getting started. Stage 2: Working on the problem. Stage 3: Digging deeper. Stage 4: Reflecting. Although the stages are numbered, problem solving is not necessarily a linear process. We might, for example, reflect on what we have done so far and return to working more on the problem before digging deeper.
Building Problem-Solvers: Incorporating challenging maths puzzles and games into primary education is a powerful strategy for developing problem-solving skills in young learners. We recognise the importance of engaging pupils with interactive tasks that not only stimulate their mathematical abilities but also build their confidence in tackling complex challenges.
Find out which primary maths strategies will dramatically improve pupils' attainment and progress in maths, and how to use them in your teaching. ... reasoning and problem-solving. 15. Use bar-modelling techniques. Bar-modelling is taking the primary maths world by storm for a reason. From routine calculations such as 4 + 3, to more complex ...
There are a number of common strategies that students of primary age can use to help them solve problems. We discuss below several that will be of value for problems on this website and in books on problem solving. Common Problem Solving Strategies. Guess (includes guess and check, guess and improve) Act It Out (act it out and use equipment)
1. Create a Diagram/draw a picture. Creating a diagram helps students visualize the problem and reach the solution. A diagram can be a picture with labels, or a representation of the problem with objects that can be manipulated. Role-playing and acting out the problem like a story can help get to the solution. Example.
2. Questions to stimulate mathematical thinking. These questions assist children to focus on particular strategies and help them to see patterns and relationships. This aids the formation of a strong conceptual network. The questions can serve as a prompt when children become 'stuck'. (Teachers are often tempted to turn these questions into ...
Our maths content specialist, Kirstin Mulholland, explores how practitioners can support pupils to problem-solve effectively using metacognition. I feel as though every time I have a conversation about maths with a teacher or school leader, problem-solving is identified as something we want to work on. Pupils find it difficult.
Word Problems: Simple real-life scenarios can help students relate math to their daily lives. Skip Counting: Worksheets focused on counting by 2s, 5s, or 10s. Geometry and Shape Worksheets
By delineating decisions across five levels—fundamental, primary, secondary, tertiary and other choices—this model provides a comprehensive framework that aligns closely with design thinking ...
Excelling in the GRE Quantitative Exam requires more than just a strong grasp of math concepts; it demands effective strategies and techniques. In our article, "Top 10 Tips for GRE Quantitative Exam: Learn Maths Tricks and Shortcuts," we provide you with essential GRE math tips to enhance your performance. Discover powerful math tricks and quantitative shortcuts that will streamline your ...
During problem solving, solvers need to communicate their mathematics for example by: discussing their work and explaining their reasoning using a range of mathematical language and notation. using a variety of strategies and diagrams for establishing algebraic or graphical representations of a problem and its solution.
A guide to the career, politics and sudden stardom of Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, now Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate.
In our mathematics lessons, our curriculum challenges teachers to develop fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills, and trying to find a balance within a particular lesson can be a challenge (this is an aspect we explore more fully in this article by Clare Lee and Sue Johnston-Wilder). By choosing LTHC activities, learners can easily get ...