Daniel Ortiz Middle
School
Yolanda Alleman, Principal
6767 Telephone
Road; Houston, TX 77061
713-845-5650 (Office);
713-845-5646
(Fax)
7:40 - 3:15
Mon-Thurs (lunes-jueves), 7:40 - 1:15 Friday (viernes)
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Mathematics Department
Math Department Teachers
6th Grade – Whyte, Claire; Chinea, Heriberto; Arvizu, Myriam; Garcia, Tina
7th Grade – White, Kanika; Johnson, Ivy; Gutierrez, Joe; Chang, Pi; Scott, Marleena
8th Grade –
Johnson, David; Masud, Sadiq;
Mickle, Deitra; Sanchez, David
The Math Department has an enriched program that is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). As the curriculum incorporates the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards, it is designed to meet the needs of all students ranging from special needs (including ESL students) to gifted and talented (G/T) and Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP).
The central math concepts of the middle-grades curriculum include the following:
 | Grade 6 - using ratios to describe proportional relationships involving number, geometry, measurement, and probability and adding and subtracting decimals and fractions. |
| Grade 7 - using proportional relationships in number, geometry, measurement, and probability; applying addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of decimals, fractions, and integers; and using statistical measures to describe data. |
| Grade 8 - using basic principles of algebra to analyze and represent proportional and non-proportional relationships and using probability to describe data and make predictions. |
Since students in the middle-grades are in a very important transition time of their lives, they need opportunities to explore, develop, and experience hands-on, real life situations that connect their understanding of math concepts to the real world as they move from an informal to a more formal or critical thinking. A strong focus on algebraic and geometric ideas is also being emphasized throughout the middle-grades curriculum. Ortiz math teachers offer the students learning experiences that integrate the heart of middle school curriculum, which is proportionality, with other content areas such as science and art through problem solving, reasoning, and multiple representations of data.
In addition, students enjoy doing and learning math as they talk about math, write about math, and do creative projects that display their understanding of math concepts and show off their diverse learning styles. Most appropriately, the use of technology and hands-on manipulation plays an important role in producing critical thinking and highly successful students in a changing and challenging society.