I also started learning rails in August, just launched my first app. I skipped over TDD, planning on coming back and learning that. Testing just seemed too abstract when I set out, I found it easier to boot my app and "test" in the browser by seeing what changes I made in code actually did.
I didn't find your issue to be something that confused me. There seems to be a lot out there about fat models, skinny views/controller, but it sounds like you should really just ingrain MVC as it pertains to rails in your brain. Rails guides are your best friend here. MVC in effect is the effective design pattern your looking for.
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I also started learning rails in August, just launched my first app. I skipped over TDD, planning on coming back and learning that. Testing just seemed too abstract when I set out, I found it easier to boot my app and "test" in the browser by seeing what changes I made in code actually did.
I didn't find your issue to be something that confused me. There seems to be a lot out there about fat models, skinny views/controller, but it sounds like you should really just ingrain MVC as it pertains to rails in your brain. Rails guides are your best friend here. MVC in effect is the effective design pattern your looking for.
My two cents from a fellow rails beginner. Oh, and check out my app at http://www.uhpartments.com