So, I Have This Job...

I work as a housekeeper at my school and, until now, all I've had to do was dust and vacuum the library, and sweep the stairwells (which, by the way, are disgusting).  Today, they had me one of these beasts and tell me to go take care of the hallways. 
There's gotta be some sort of technique to using these...But, I mean, I was picking up copious amounts of dirt and nastiness, so hopefully I was doing it somewhat correctly. (Although, that may have just been because the floors are that gross). 
tl;dr
I'm too dumb to operate the simplest of cleaning devices.