Um... I think I'm a kinesthetic learner, like you, so I'd always copy out all the vocab and meanings before tests. That was usually short-term memory, though. What really helped was using the language every day in class and trying to speak it outside of class. It was helpful that I was learning Japanese with a whole bunch of anime-lovers, so there was a great deal of incentive. We also made up lots of silly sentences using the grammar and poked each other a lot whenever we heard anime using grammar or vocab that we knew.