  We present a virtual element method for the Reissner-Mindlin plate bending
problem which uses shear strain and deflection as discrete variables without
the need of any reduction operator. The proposed method is conforming in
$[H^{1}(\Omega)]^2 \times H^2(\Omega)$ and has the advantages of using general
polygonal meshes and yielding a direct approximation of the shear strains. The
rotations are then obtained by a simple postprocess from the shear strain and
deflection. We prove convergence estimates with involved constants that are
uniform in the thickness $t$ of the plate. Finally, we report numerical
experiments which allow us to assess the performance of the method.
