Children Full of Life
Mr. Kanamori, a teacher of a 4th grade class, teaches his students not only how to be students, but how to live. He gives them lessons on teamwork, community, the importance of openness, how to cope, and the harm caused by bullying.
In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life, a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori.
He instructs each to write their true inner feelings in a letter, and read it aloud in front of the class. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.
Toshiro is an amazing example of what all teachers across the world should be like. He truly understands what teaching children is all about and certainly made a positive difference in the lives of these 10 year olds.
Children should always be taught about death as early as possible, from the goldfish found floating in his bowl, to the beloved old dog who died while away at college. Death is everywhere & children can't be shielded from it. Bottling it up inside only brings more destruction of the life down the road.
God I loved it
I cried while watching this
I wish my teacher and my class were like this
Bot,mostly I wish there will be more and more teachers like him.
This documentary was so heartwarming. Especially for the time we have reached as a socity, human connection is close to nothing when it comes to connecting with others around us. All conversations are simple and have no meaning. No emotions are felt. Everyone is just out there looking out for themselves only. Children need to be taught the importance of human connection , feeling emotions and understanding that it's okay to show emotions like sadness.
How to contact with Mr. Kanamori? I recently watched the documentary on how he taught the children how to live a life with respect and empathy. I have raised a few questions for him so that I wrote a letter to me, unfortunately, I do not know how to contact him.
In all my 74 years I have held the believe that GOOD teachers mold the children and thus our world, this teacher is a person beyond my wildest hopes! GREAT VIDEO!
So inspiring. Thank you so much for this.
Mr. Kanamori showed his young students, and me, how to relate to each other with empathy but also the process of getting to a point of empathy and understanding. As an adult and a teacher he also demonstrated that he would listen to young people / students and be proud of their viewpoints. He is a teacher's teacher.
Amazing, teared up. one of the best moment in life.
I teared up when they made the card for the mum of the deceased husband. Breaking all the taboos of talking about one's emotions, sharing their experiences and grieving on past memories makes this a powerful documentary. I am astounded at the emotional intelligence of these students, a testament to Mr. Kanamori's teaching style.
Wow! These talks are pretty deep in perspective and meaning for these nine to ten year Olds. It is very brave in my view and I wonder how they are able to open up so readily in the face of the context of one of life’s more sharper corners, let’s say. The kids are showing such depth and vulnerability in class. Wow!
I tried teaching 4th grade and used the same tactics and I was fired by the Okemos, Michigan Public Schools! All the children had parents that taught at Michigan State University in East Lansing. I love teaching and the kids loved me and I was hired by people who wanted progressive teachers like me. There was a change of leaders and I was fired.
I wish I had had a teacher like the one in this documentary! Surely these children's lives were changed by this experience. As adults we carry so much of our childhood, without even realising it. Every child should be taught these things. Touching and inspiring documentary
I love it but I kept thinking about what happened to everyone *-* I still wondering
This is one of the most powerful stories I've ever seen and heard. My heart is filled with more love to share than ever.
Thank you so much for the purpose of life indeed is joy and we can achieve it thru compassion, knowledge and understanding
i don't know how this kind of teaching can be implemented everywhere ,maybe we can start sharing this documentary more.
Kids and adults used to learn most by observing. Now they are lied to about what they see and don't see. They are easily manipulated by their emotions and egos. Hats off to the teacher who teaches good things rather than emotionalizing them to the socialist-communist new world odor agenda, as is the plan.
The masses are viewed by the banksters and elite much the same as Christopher Columbus viewed the natives of the Caribbean (Arawak), "they would make good servants..."--from the docu Red Cry on this website; and have set out long ago to make that a reality through the "education" (indoctrination) system.
Its hard for me to find the words to describe how profound this story is. I think if we as people learn to care for others, help others, be empathetic, learn acceptance, listen, stand up for each other, and be happy there would be much less suffering in the world. This documentary is beautiful......thank you.
Kanamori Sensei, I am so moved by your exceptional pedagogic approach and the mastery of how you educate young students the most important lesson in life " empathy". It's amazing to imagine the future of these youngsters as they continue their higher education. They will truly become amazing adults that can change the world without a doubt. It's so Sad that USA and European education systems no longer focus on educating a children to become compassionate human beings, they instead focus on training individuals to become ego-maniacs self-centered and money loving who lack integrity and empathy. Japan has a lot to teach the world !!
This is a great documentary! Something I have been teaching myself, and others for quite some time now, and being an example of in my life. If you don't like how our teachers teach, that's fine. But don't blame them for our children not learning these principles. It is our job as parents, and yes, I am a parent, to instill these values into our children from the start. It is our job to become examples of this for the future generations. It is our job to teach by example, and to BE the CHANGE we wish to SEE in the world.
So Educational .... FOR ALL OF US ! This, IS The Way School should be taught EVERYWHERE !!! Outstanding & Incredible Documentary, THAT should Also Win a Nobel Peace Prize; To the "Life Changer/Instructor".
Empathy is a hard thing to learn. Good thing these kids have someone to teach 'em.
Mr. Kanamori San, I was absolutely amazed and touched by your style of teaching to the grade 4 students in Japan. Hats off to you! Actually, this is what exactly His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been promoting for the past few decades and now I can really see the difference it brings! So important for all of us wherever we are. Especially the teachers in the montessori set up to teach, compassion, empathy, sharing, and cooperation in this world. I am so blessed to see your documentary and I hope many people will watch this and try to learn bit by bit. Thank you so much.
Amazing children, amazing teacher. Truly.
This video was very interesting. It shows that no matter where you are in school, you should always be happy. The teacher Mr. Kanamori, is being a true role model and making sure everyone is happy because they deserve to be happy. When the students are talking about getting bullied and one student shared that she was bullied before and didnt want to be made fun of again, so she didn't know what to do when someone else was being bullied, Mr. Kanamori told her that they all understood she was upset and tried to make her feel better. Also, when two students father died, he had one of them talk about it and after she shared her story of her father, she felt better knowing that she had people in her class that wanted her to be happy. When they found that another students father died and he didn't come to school, the teacher told them they should try their best to cheer him up because he is going through a rough time. My favorite part of this was when a student got in trouble and couldn't do the rafting activity and then another student stood up for him and all the other classmates said that he should be able to do the rafting. I like this part because it shows that the students all cared for each other. My least favorite part was when everyone was sad and crying. This was a interesting video, I learned about how schools are taught in a different place.
The video wasn't that bad. My favorite part is when everyone was happy. My worst part was when everyone was sad.