As schools reopened in the fall of 2021, educators faced pressure to fill in learning gaps created by unfinished learning. Findings from a qualitative case study of elementary school teachers show that at times teachers felt constrained by the limitations of teaching writing in an online environment; therefore, they were excited about returning to the classroom where learning could be fun once again. Suggestions for restoring joy to the literacy classroom and our research findings align with the literature related to designing literacy learning for joy.