Reasoning:
We list the term with the largest exponent first, then next largest, and so on.
We count down the exponents.
Rewrite 4w^11-w^12 as 4w^11 + (-w^12)
Then use the rule A+B = B+A to swap the terms being added.
We arrive at -w^12 + 4w^11
The leading term is -w^12
The leading coefficient is -1.
The degree of this polynomial is 12, aka the largest exponent.
We consider this a 12th degree binomial since we have 2 terms.
Another example of standard form is: 5x^4+7x^3+x^2
The exponents here count down: 4,3,2