End of classes

Ending a course is always a bit awkward for me. What do you say at the end of a long intellectual journey you've shared with your students? Something inspirational? If so, what? "Good luck on your exams"? I've never figured it out, though I always want to say something meaningful. For my undergraduate course this semester, however, I stumbled across a delightfully poetic way of closing the semester. One of my goals in the class (as in all classes) was to teach students to engage in independent critical thinking and to rely on their own analyses of the various sources of information and input they have access to. So, after reviewing the material in the last class, we watched a film on Romer's Charter Cities idea. The plan was to break into groups for discussion and then reconvene as a class. Unfortunately(?) there was insufficient time at the end of class, so it struck me that I would just end the class by letting them discuss the issue amongst themselves, avoiding any final imprint I might put on their thoughts. It felt right. I don't know if they saw it that way, but for me it precisely reflected one of the principles underlying my pedagogical approach.