The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to examine and understand the public high school traditional learning teachers' preparations for a transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic through their lived experiences, stories, and perceptions. The problem is that the pandemic presented significant challenges for public high school traditional learning teachers, resulting in students experiencing lower levels of success in their studies. The study was to assist educational leaders in identifying issues encountered during the transition from traditional to online teaching and to improve the preparation of educators for future crises based on the initial experiences, stories, and perceptions of traditional learning teachers in a southern United States school district, who became online instructors for the first time during the pandemic. The study was guided by three research questions examining participants' experiences, stories, and perceptions. The data were analyzed using the inductive thematic analysis process. Four key themes emerged: feelings of inadequate preparation to teach online, teacher concerns for student learning, perceived obstacles to teaching online, and the reflective experiences of the online teaching experience. The results revealed that teachers were inadequately prepared for online teaching. The teachers felt overwhelmed and unsupported during the transition, with most reporting a lack of knowledge of best online teaching practices. Consequently, traditional learning students were ill-equipped for virtual learning. The study recommended that professional development in online teaching before emergencies would have better equipped traditional teachers for a virtual setting. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]