Wadding Thunder writes about how as he reviews for exams, he's finding that in the class where he volunteered the most, he remembers what he said, and that his comments provide memory clues to other important points made in class -- basically that he can use his comments made in class as a roadmap to recalling more of the subject matter. Hence, a reason to volunteer. (I hope I'm not completely misrepresenting his point here)

I have an alternative approach, and a way to get the same memory-jogging exam help without actually having to think of relevant things to say, raise your hand, and risk the wrath of your peers for volunteering too much in class. You see, I occassionally write limericks in my notes, like, for instance, about the case of Vosburg v. Putney in Torts class, where I wrote something like:

It was only a kick to the shin
That stirred the diseases within
A kick to the knee
A lawsuit or three
In the end, the boy Vosburg did win

And going back through my notes, I'm finding that for the cases about which I wrote limericks, I remember the facts much better than the ones for which I stared into space or counted the number of empty seats in the classroom. Hence, my lesson: writing limericks in class is useful for the exam.

Writing lists of the "top ten things people are doing to stay awake... #1: re-enacting the Last Supper on their desks with animal crackers," however, does not appear to be helpful in reviewing for the test.