Nutting was perhaps the last major writer on Latin grammar of our time. In addition to his many articles and numerous notes on grammatical usage, he wrote a number of teaching texts, yet was a boring and repetitive teacher, especially in his elementary classes. His student Joseph Fontenrose gives an account: "The Latin text was never read; there was no discussion of a play or poem or essay nor of the author's literary art. The routine was invariable: Nutting called on a student to translate; the student translated a few lines or sentences, and then at a convenient stop Nutting would say, 'Sufficient for the translation,' make any necessary corrections, and occasionally point out some syntactical feature. Then he called on the next person to translate, and the cycle was repeated, and so on through the hour." He also wrote short Latin plays modeled on Plautus, which he would assign his students as an introduction to the author, before reading his edition of the Trinummus. He worked hard in the losing battle to keep Latin in California high schools and, though not warm, was kindly, helpful, calm, and proper.