The purpose of this reflection of teaching online through the COVID-19 outbreak is to shed light on the importance of setting middle school students up for success despite being thrust into an unfamiliar virtual, learning environment. The personal narrative speaks to the ways in which I set up a new online learning environment with structure, consistency, and care. Students and parents learned fairly quickly what needed to be done to ensure success. I learned fairly quickly that some students needed more support academically and emotionally just like in the classroom. Those students that merely survived in the classroom also survived in their new online learning setting, and those students that thrived in the classroom also thrived in their new online learning setting.