Accidental Lessons: A Memoir of a Rookie Teacher and a Life Renewed

by David W. Berner

Grand Prize for Literature, 2011 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards Accidental Lessons is a remarkable memoir by successful Chicago journalist David W. Berner. Berner takes the reader inside his own personal journey; a heart wrenching and inspirational account of self-discovery. Berner had it all - a very successful career as a broadcast journalist and a wonderful family life. But his career hits a bump and he finds himself out of work. Life then delivers more trouble - his father becomes terminally ill and his marriage falls apart. In the middle of painful personal times, this respected journalist makes a decision that changes his life forever. Berner takes a job in a public school outside Chicago where the students are representations of society's "throw-aways." What he learns from them teaches him invaluable lessons about himself, who he is, and why he became a journalist in the first place - to seek out the truth and give voice to those who need their story told. David W. Berner is a journalist, documentary writer, and producer. He teaches writing, documentary and radio narrative classes at Columbia College in Chicago. He has published personal essays and hundreds of magazine articles and interviewed such greats as Ted Kennedy, Tiger Woods, and Bill Gates. He lives in Naperville, Illinois with his family and two dogs, Hogan and Mike. Mr. Berner is currently working on a collection of essays about fatherhood. Accidental Lessons is his first book.

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

David W. Berner is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author, and teacher. As a writer, he has been the recipient of awards from the prestigious Society of Midland Authors and the Chicago Writers Association. David has more than forty years experience in broadcast journalism as a reporter, anchor, news director, and program director. He has contributed to the CBS Radio Network and to public radio stations around the country, including NPR’s Weekend edition.

David has also performed live literature readings at 2nd Story, Essay Fiesta, Waterline Writers, and Sunday Salon. And regularly conducts workshops on writing and memoir.

Reviews

[Victor Giron · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Berner is an associate college professor of radio at Columbia in Chicago. His book Accidental Lessons is his memoir of how he got to where he’s at now, focusing on his rooky teaching experience at Cowherd Middle School in Aurora Illinois. Cowherd serves a largely Latino community, and like many other such schools in the greater Chicago-land area, it struggles to find and retain qualified teachers as the students come from struggling families where education is secondary to everything else. It thus uses programs such as the one Mr. Berner went through where professionals seeking to transition into education are dumped into these schools, without much teaching experience. The book begins with Mr. Berner as a broadcast radio professional, frustrated with the corporate takeover of radio journalism. He’s left his career and is unemployed. His marriage is falling apart, and he’s searching for something to provide a spark in his life. Seemingly on a whim, he enrolls in this program that will pay for part of his education to be trained as a teacher and in exchange he will be placed in a public school. That school is Cowherd. We get the sense of shock as this glaringly white man enters the hallways full of these loud Spanish talking frenzied Latino youths. In his quest to win over these students, Mr. Berner sees his marriage fall apart but manages to find himself. It’s a sincere story of believing in yourself and discovering lessons in unlikely places. It was a joy to read.

[LB Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

David didn't plan on being a teacher in a rough and tumble school in one of the poorer parts of Chicago. He didn't plan on a 17 year marriage ending. But when life threw some curve balls at him, he did what he had to. I throughly enjoyed his introduction at school. Raised in a quiet small town myself I can't imagine what teaching kids who have been disappointed by everything in life, deprived if stable families, economic health or life choices. Yet David tackled it full-on (sometimes literally) and gave those kids some wisdom that could not have come from anyone other than him. A heartwarming, sometimes tear-jerking triumph of a memoir.

[Richard Jespers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Berner comes to teaching later in life, married, with two children of his own. His marriage is in tatters. Even if he’s a proven journalist, he doesn’t seem to have any other choices before him, so he chooses to teach in a middle school of a very poor Chicago district. Though he’s older, he’s still fooled by some students’ tricks. He witnesses students who live amid some very difficult situations. He makes personal contact with a few, taking his sons to see one of his student’s baseball game. It makes a difference with his pupils. Slowly . . . it’s always slow . . . he begins to build rapport with all of his classes. He keeps the fact that he’s completed a favorable interview for a college teaching position elsewhere in the city. When he finally tells his principal, and then his pupils, he feels as if he’s betraying them. But even the principal is thinking of deserting, so she doesn’t hold him at fault. He leaves feeling that he could stay in this building for the rest of his career; on the other hand college teaching is what he’s always wished to do. Teaching people to work in radio is his field, not basics of grammar for adolescents. It is the dilemma that many teachers face. I love the pure act teaching, but how can I support my family on this salary? How can I build a future? Can my nerves take this for a lifetime?

The only criticism I have for this book is that one year of teaching hardly qualifies Berner to comment on much more than his one year. It only helps a small group of people who might read it. Tony Danza in his teaching memoir, I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had, only covers one year, as well, but somehow Danza elaborates much more on his situation, much more on the relationships he has with students and teachers in the school where he’s assigned; he relates it more to his past life as a TV actor. It seems to inspire the reader more than Berner's book.

[Ti · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Short of It:

A positive, uplifting story. Crisply written, this one can be read in one sitting. You won’t want to put it down.

The Rest of It:

I can be a bit critical of memoirs. Many are overly done and poorly written. Not the case here. Berner presents his story in a positive, upbeat way without sugar-coating his personal downfalls. There’s a nice balance between his professional and personal life. Berner’s writing is tight and crisp…clean in a way. As I was reading, I could clearly hear his voice and his passion for teaching was evident. It’s very inspiring. Educators, journalists, mothers and fathers…this is a book that anyone can enjoy.