This descriptive case study centers the experiences of 12 preservice secondary English Language Arts (ELAR) teachers in their final two years of study as they navigate changing school environments in light of COVID-19 restrictions. The preservice teachers discuss successes and challenges with regard to their preparedness to teaching in online or hybrid modalities, their struggles to build learner engagement with social distancing restrictions within the classroom and some students who never log into class live, and similar struggles with intentional relationship building. From these emergent themes, the authors make recommendations on praxis for pre- and inservice teachers, teacher educators, and teacher education programs.