Is "Focus Wall" the new Buzz word?

I have four huge paintings I made of Martin Luther King Jr, Susan B Anthony, Gandhi and Cesar Chavez.  I have, to my credit, pictures of more conservative leaders as well (such as Reagan).  I use these visuals often in class and I believe that my artwork as well as the student artwork makes for the right climate in social studies.  In more recent times, I have had teachers attack me for not having "word walls" or "academic language walls."  

Honestly, I think they are distracting.  I need students engaged actively in learning.  If they are staring at the walls and learning, I am doing something wrong.  

We had to have something similar to the focus wall a few years ago.  It was supposed to be done for every lesson and took way too much time.  The kids rarely looked at it, and it was meaningless.  I agree with jspencer.  Too much clutter on the walls is distracting.  Also, that type of environment makes some kids nervous and unable to learn.  

We have to display an immersion wall in our classrooms to reflect student learning.  Since it is non-negotiable, I just put up students' work when they complete it in the subject (primarily science or social studies integrated into other areas). It sdtays up until we are finished with the unit.  There is too much else to do, like TEACHING, and I refuse to stress about it. I am not going out of my way to do anything else other than hang up the student work on that board.  I always wonder why we have to display the standards so that the administrators and district people can see them on their walk-throughs. Shouldn't they know what we are doing without having the standards posted? If they are evaluating us, they should know what good teaching looks like!

Sorry about the typo above. It should read, "It stays up". I am not a good typist!

We have a Blackboard Configuration, which is equally silly.  Daily, we post the objective, the agenda, the standards, etc.  The kids only pay attention to the date and the agenda.  They could care less about the standards posted.  

To me, teaching is a sacred vocation and they are invading on our space by creating these meaningless space-wasters.  It would be like desecrating a temple or walking into a church and telling the pastor he needed to use a standardized format on the wall telling people what they will learn.  

"If they are evaluating us, they should know what good teaching looks like!"

Finally, someone else who thinks like me. Thank you. I was beginning to think it was just me.

I totally agree with everything everyone is saying! I'm a first year teacher, and I am starting to believe that in order to be happy and successful with my job, I have to forget my wish to be creative and I have to think entirely INSIDE the box. If teachers are just supposed to be automatons, why are we expected to have college degrees?! It's very frustrating!