District Visit

My last scheduled visit at the school coincided with a planned visit from the district. As an observer, the whole thing seemed strange. Standards popped up everywhere around the school. Bulletin boards, hall displays, and even class journals had large standards written on them. As if to justify every single thing done in school. While my teacher was being observed she used the smartboard (something I have not yet seen), she stayed on scheduled (something that is not a frequent occurrence), and she used different teaching techniques.
The whole visit seemed too staged for me. What is accomplished by teachers plastering standards on everything and acting differently? The teachers know why they do the things they do, so how does an activity only become legitimate once something like K1.2 is posted on it?