I have a macbook air with M1 and I am trying to hook up to dual monitors and it isn't recognizing the one monitor

Your Mac can only support one external display. Up to 6K resolution, but still only one.

MacBook Air (M1, 2020) - Technical Specifications

Display Support

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and: 

• One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz

The M1 Macs can only connect to 1 external monitor. This is clearly stated in the M1 specs.