Best practices for integrated STEM courses work well when teachers are adept at implementing them and when students are in a learning environment where they can communicate and collaborate while simultaneously working with and investigating manipulatives with their hands. When the COVID-19 Pandemic forced many K-12 schools to close in March of 2020, many teachers were forced to try to adapt best practices in STEM, and the communication norms that are necessary for best practices, to virtual environments. This article explores a variety of professional practices used in a midwestern middle school classroom to transition from live STEM classrooms to virtual STEM classrooms without compromising the rigor or quality of education. The core of successful implementation was communication. Communication between the teacher and students and communication among students.