How does a good student predict whether any given atom will gain or lose electon

Question

How does a good student predict whether any given atom will gain or lose electons in forming an ion (and the amount gained/lost)? I am sure there is a real method to this maddness but my textbook is a jerk, and it seems the authors were only interested in completing the book, and not quality assurance.

I know the following:

Metals gain?

Non-Metals Lose?

The oxidation state provides the clue into how many are gained/lost.?

When I put the probems into the question they ussually come out all correct, However on occasion one will be wrong, then I have to google the answer. Also, the oxidation states don't seem to be a very reliable tool, because sometimes the oxidation will suggest 6+ when the answer is more like 1+ or 2+. Can somebody write a response giving me some useful instructions on how to properly answer this question when google is not an option and my only resource is the periodic table.

I have a text book here, but the online questions, and the text book are not streamlined and are not well constructed for a good learning experience. So I would be very happy if somone could explain this to me.

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How does a good student predict whether any given atom will gain or lose electon

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