The unknown is making me anxious

Tomorrow officially kicks off "starting the new career" week with going to my former school and handing in all of my tech, my fab, etc. The following day is my on-boarding meeting with my school principal. While I have been excited since getting the offer, in a way it hasn't felt real yet. Both of my interviews have been virtual, my HR paperwork was all electronic, and my principal has been out on vacation. All the while, I have been inundated with the news about schools grappling with the in-person/online debate and all the baggage that comes along with it.

Personally, I am prepared to do whatever, but the reality is that lessons will need to be built out online as well as in person due to the inevitable absences that will happen. For social studies, I am not too worried about this, as it will be a lot of work, but the basic curriculum materials are online anyway. For ELA, I am slightly panicked on how to conduct a workshop curriculum for writing and reading virtually. Even in the classroom, no paper will be exchanged. How does one quickly and effectively check in on student work without hovering close? How do students who are absent benefit from the workshop atmosphere? How do I get 7th graders excited and "bought in" to writing and reading? What is expected of me? What do I expect of myself? (too much, I guarantee it.) The list is endless.

I am hoping that after my meetings on Tuesday along with a few emails to my mentor, I'll feel slightly better. If I'm being honest, I wish my state would delay school opening by at least 2 weeks to allow everyone involved to actually be decently ready to rock. That is quite unlikely, so I need to figure out a way to step out of the river of anxious. I also reached out to my mentor to ask what strategies worked for him over the emergency learning.

My next task: setting up realistic expectations for myself because my "be the hero" is already kicking in.